Savannah Georgia
by MarieJane67777
Summary: Sequel to story, "FORwarD". 2 girls discover that fictional characters are real, learning that it is made possible through the multiverse theory. Things are fine until drama builds up with Yami and Link that causes an imbalance of the universes and brings more fictional beings from other worlds such as OUAT, MLB, KH, DBZ, and MORE. OCxCanon Drama/Romance/Adventure/Comedy.
1. SG Prologue

**Savannah Georgia** ~ FORwarD Sequel

 _Prologue_

 _One Month Time Skip_

 _December 31, 1:30 am, Airport Loading Doc_

 _Narrator's P.O.V~_

The terminal bell rang as the passengers began to enter the first class plane. Yami showed the tickets to the attendant and guided the rest of the team into the plane. Every seat was complimented with a blanket, pillow and head set and every isle had access to its own TV. Link carried a sleepy Junior on his shoulder and gently put him down on a red fabric chair in between two others on the first isle. The little hylian yawned and Link pulled the blanket over his little brother.

"Try to get some sleep, bud." He said, shielding his little pointy ears into his green hat.

"I'll try," Junior whispered, "I'm just not used to going to sleep without Dee saying goodnight..."

Link flinched and tucked his brother in without replying. Lucia, who was assigned the seat next to Junior, witnessed this and smiled a comforting smile to the handsome elf.

"You should sleep too, Link." She said and Link nodded once, seating himself on the window seat on the other side of Junior. Though they only became acquainted a month ago, everyone has been anti social during the recovery.

In the isle behind them, Yami closed the luggage compartment above their heads, and gestured his hand to Yugi, offering him the window seat. Yugi slid into the set of 3 seats and sat behind Link. Then Yami looked at Jane, who was texting on her phone and cleared his throat. Jane apologized, and slid next to Yugi for the middle seat, followed by Yami who sat next to her.

"Can I get you guys anything?" An attendant asked.

"...No, we're fine, thank you." Yami said, speaking for the others who were all silent.

"Please make sure your safety belts are on until after take off." The attendant said and repeated her statement to the other passengers on the plane as she walked on. After a few short seconds of silence, Jane grabbed the brochure in the pocket in front of her and began mentally reviewing the steps to take in case of an emergency.

"Are you looking forward to seeing our new home?" Yami said softly, respecting the other passengers who were preparing for sleep and take off. Jane turned her phone off after seeing a sad face message from Yuu.

"I don't know," she answered honestly, "I'm really excited, it's just hard on the cost."

"I understand." Yami said, feeling guilty.

His recent decision has been hard on everyone. "I am sorry to put you through this."

Jane rubbed her eyes in sleepiness "It's not your decision that's taking a toll on me..."

 _It's mine._ She thought.

"It's Dee's." Link said, who was listening in. "It's her decision that's taking the toll."

Jane didn't reply. She had already finished grieving over Diana. In fact, it was Yuu that was bothering her right now, not Diana.

"Ya," Yugi said, "I know it's been weeks already, but it still hasn't sunk in."

Jane huffed. The thought of Diana just upset her now. "Sorry guys, that's the price you pay for having a _little miss perfect_ bully in the house." She said with sarcasm, roughly grabbing her blanket and spreading it over her legs.

"You are not a bully." Lucia said, turning around and grabbing the back of her seat so that she faced the isle behind her. She pulled her headphones off her head. "We are all shocked with how Dee reacted, but you're the last person that associates with a bully."

No one knew how to add to Lucia's conversation. Up until now, no one ever even talked about it.

They were too hurt.

But since Lucia broke the ice, Link grunted in extreme anger and threw the first class headset to the wall of the plane in front of him with great force, shattering the object and surprising neighboring passengers. None of the friends reacted or was surprised with Link for doing this and he said nothing when it settled.

"I guess we never meant that much to her," Yugi said when it was quiet, "How did this happen?"

Jane closed her eyes, trying to force herself to go to sleep.

 _It started with the Museum,_ she thought. Yami's museum was peaking with popularity. Tourists from all over the world were coming in so fast after it opened that just a few days, it was causing so much traffic on the streets that he was forced to consider relocating. He didn't have a choice, and that's when everything went wrong.

"It's alright Yugi, we don't need to talk about this now." Yami said.

"We never talk about it," Link said quietly.

"But we should," Lucia said, "Or we'll never get over this."

"I'm over it." Jane said with her eyes closed. "We have bigger problems."

The others ignored Jane's comment. Link pulled his hat so that it covered his eyes. Finding Midna didn't go as expected. Turns out she didn't want to be found and she went back to the Twilight realm. _I could have went back to Hyrule but chose to stay because of the friends I made here. And Dee gives up on us? Just like that? Did I mean nothing, then...?_

"Well at least everything else worked out..." Yugi said, attempting to be positive

 _After Yami made the plans to relocate the Museum,_ Yugi thought, _everything was in chaos. Dee and Lucia were still in school, Link just found Midna...basically, everyone's plans were leading them separate ways. We thought things got better after Jane graduated, because she can be an illustrator anywhere. She was hesitant to move away because of family but ended up telling the Pharaoh that she's fine with it. As for Midna, she didn't want to be found. Link told me that she was running away from him because she was in love with him and she knew things weren't mutual so she returned to the Twilight realm from Link's dimension. Link could have gone home since his mission was complete, but he decided that he's made a new home with us now and he couldn't return permanently. Joey and the others didn't care because they visit from battle city with magic, so it doesn't matter where we are. But when Dee decided not to join us because of a fight she had with Jane, she shocked all of us. It was such a surprise that none of us ever spoke about it. We just watched her move out in silence. After all this, the Pharaoh offered to sponsor Lucia's education and enroll her in school where we are moving. She immediately agreed knowing that there is success with him and she was very excited. The Pharaoh told me he really wanted Lucia to come with us because it would help Jane move on from the sudden loss of Diana. He did it for Jane._

It was quiet again and Lucia was told to sit properly in her seat and buckle up for take off. As the plane began to move, Jane opened her eyes slightly, content that the conversation was dropped. When it happened, she was sad but it didn't stick. She was too preoccupied with Yuu. He begged her to stay. He begged, but she couldn't. She knew that Yami wouldn't leave without her and even if he would, she would never stay behind without him. She has chosen Yami.

Jane looked up at Yami who was reading his book. She sighed. The problem was, she hasn't yet broken up with Yuu. She was too afraid. She had told Yuu that it would just be long distance and that they would visit each other. She doesn't know how long that will hold up, but separation at this point was inevitable. Even if they stayed together, which she wished they could, she would only continue to grow more in love with the Pharaoh so it was pointless. She will break up with Yuu. Eventually.

Jane leaned her head on Yami's shoulder and he put his book down on his lap. He reached over and took her hand to comfort her, thinking that she was still down over her friend. The plane was moving fast now.

"Try to sleep," he said quietly, rubbing her hand with his thumb, "When you awake, you'll be somewhere else. You wont have to look back anymore."

Jane clenched his hand as she looked at the chairs ahead, watching Lucia's head slowly slide to the side from falling asleep. She let her eyes slide closed as well and felt the warmth of Yami's hand and the take off of the airplane matching the smoothness of her departing consciousness.

And as they slept, they flew to a place of new memories. Their new home in Savannah Georgia.

 **A/N: Based on real facts, the people that inspired characters Jane and Diana did part ways in reality for the reason that their personalities were too different. Diana was too down and insecure and Jane was to assertive and brave. At times, they were good for each other but the majority of the time, it just made Diana feel less than and even more insecure being around someone like Jane. It caused them to fight constantly until one day she suddenly turned her back, surprising Jane and all others close to them. Though, everyone has their opinions, the most important thing to note is that her sudden lost affected those left behind, especially our friends in the world of fan fiction. How will Link, Junior, or even Joey handle Diana's absence? And will they be able to accept a new girl, Lucia, during such a difficult time? Do they blame Jane for the chaos? What will come with Savannah Georgia now that all these changes have occurred? All I'll share for now is that the level of drama you have gotten to know in the time of FORwarD is about to get completely over thrown by the events that are about to take place.**


	2. Vol 1 Ch 1: Link's Tears

**Savannah Georgia ~**

 **A/N: Thank you for reading this far. If you haven't read FORwarD, please do so or you may be quite confused reading on. Though, it is an interesting read anyway and if you want to skip the other story, that's fine. You can still follow along. Everything you knew about FORwarD will not be the same for this story. The rating is M, meaning way more mature content as apposed to the first story. Plus, there will be new characters introduced from other anime/games outside of Yugioh and the Legend of Zelda, so that's something to look forward to as well. Plus, the drama is even juicier. So have fun reading and please review~**

Chapter 1: "Link's Tears"

 _Jane's P.O.V_

 _9:30 am_

"Can I feed them? Can I, big bro?" I heard Junior say to Link when I left them to feed our new fish. I was in the kitchen now, the large gorgeous kitchen, unpacking the groceries that Yugi and Yami brought home. I grabbed the bread from the bag and lazily tossed it on the counter near the toaster, rubbing the marble surface with my other hand. It really was a beautiful home.

When we arrived from the plane early this morning, we got into a fancy cab and road down gorgeous green filled roads in a place called Savannah Georgia. When we started to enter the housing areas away from the city, the roads were made of stones and there were flowers decorating every house and store. When we pulled into a square with a large fountain, the cab made a turn into a luxurious looking area and the houses got bigger as we went further up the hill into the neighborhood with larger fields and fences. When we pulled into our new home, I was shocked.

The movers had just finished assembling the new furniture inside and left. The first thing I did was set up the new fish tank that Link picked out for me and Yami and Yugi went shopping. I haven't gotten to see the rest of the house yet, but the entrance and main floor already was beautiful.

The front lawn was lit with beautiful garden lights and roses framed the path that lead to the large front door. The house was white and very elegant looking and when you come in, it's very spacious, letting you see every room and everything in them. The first thing you see is a blank wall at the end of the hall. Then on the right, is a slightly spiralled staircase leading to the second floor. On the left is the largest living room ever comforted by a giant fire place and plasma screen, divided from the hall and stairs by arching pillars and the large fish tank. Near the end of the hall, you make a right and you are in the kitchen, dinning room and powder room. Normally I would be as excited as the others right now, but I am still getting used to Diana's sudden disappearance and my unavoidable break up with Yuu that is on the way.

I put the juice boxes in the giant metal fridge and organized the groceries inside when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I was very surprised that I could here them from all the way in the kitchen. I am serious when I say, it's a big house.

Seconds later, Yami came into the kitchen. He was still in the comfortable navi sweatshirt and tight jeans from the plane ride, but he had made himself at home enough to remove his shoes and choker. He didn't say anything when he came in. He just emptied the the groceries onto the counter and crunched up the plastic bags before tossing them under the sink for future use. As he was filling himself a glass of water, I noticed he was a bit tired.

"Did you start unpacking already?" I asked.

"Not quite," he said, gulping down the rest and putting his glass in the sink. "Will you assist me and bring some of the bags upstairs?"

I looked at the counter and saw that I still had some things to put away but I was incredibly curious to see the rest of the house. Lucia must like it, because since she went upstairs, she hasn't returned.

"Of course." I answered before following him out into the hall in front of the stairs where all the boxes and suitcases were dropped off. Yami grabbed one of his own and began making his way upstairs and I followed. I didn't see which bag I grabbed, to be honest, I was too distracted watching him.

When I got to the top, the first thing I noticed were a couple of little chairs in the hall that I thought were very cozy looking. The top floor was basically just a hall with doors to all the rooms, similar to our previous home except the hall was shorter and white with larger windows and a sunny atmosphere. Yami pulled his dark suitcase straight toward the largest set of doors at the very end of the hall and waited for me. As I passed the other doors, I thought I heard Lucia and Yugi talking in one of them but ignored it when I noticed the Pharaoh smiling as he opened the door. I blushed and followed him in.

Amazing. As Yami put down his suitcase, I stared at the large modern themed room with giant windows over looking the city below the hill. He had a flat screen opposite of his bed, same bed from our old place, a chandelier hanging, a comfy chair, a walk in closet and, my favourite, a grey carpet with a really cool graphic design. What really surprised me is that he had snuck one of my illustrations and got a big print of it framed on his wall over the bed. I stepped in, leaving my bag behind and removed my shoes.

"When did you do this?" I pointed to the frame.

He lifted the suitcase with one arm and layed it on the bed. He's no Link, but Yami has quite a bit of strength too. I blushed – maybe I am giving him too much credit. Guy's are stronger and next to me they only look more so... As he unzipped his suitcase and lifted some of Yugi's things, he piled them up on a bed side table while putting together a reply.

"You don't like it?" He asked, ignoring my question. I smiled and nodded without responding. You just don't question him, it's like a law.

When I looked away from him, I noticed a door at the end of the room. I walked over to it, looking at Yami for implied permission and when he granted it, I opened the door and was stunned to find Yami and Yugi's bathroom which, by the way, was epic.

"Wow," I paused, "It's as big as your room."

Yami followed me in and hung some bathroom towels onto a silver rail. He didn't say anything and I noticed he's been rather quiet since we arrived. I suppose it's a bit awkward. After all, the last time we had a real conversation was back in the museum when he gave me my own key. Since then, everything with graduation, the museum, Diana and the move, things have been extremely hectic. I wonder if he's still recovering from it all.

I looked at the giant mirror that reflected the whole room and blushed at my imagination of the nude Pharaoh preparing for a shower. I played with my hair for distraction. It's strange. Back in the old place, I felt way more tied down to Yuu to return the Pharaoh's feelings. Here I feel like I can really commit to him. Yami doesn't know about Yuu so he probably feels the same as he did before but-

"Have you had the chance to see your room yet?" Yami interrupted my thoughts and I turned to look at him leaning against the door frame in between his bedroom and I. He was smirking...

"Uh, no I, I was unloading the groceries" I replied, looking at him all hot in his comfy clothes.

"Of course," Yami said, "You should take a look. I had it set up specifically for you and Lucia. I hope it is what you wanted."

I blushed. Oh Yami, if you really knew what I wanted, you and I would be the ones rooming together.

"Ok." I said with a smile. As I walked toward the door, he didn't move or make room for me to exit. Instead he just looked serious and I froze in front of him, scared to even breathe.

"I hope you can forgive me." Yami said when he placed a hand on my cheek. I shuddered. Now that I think about it, since he told me how he felt a month ago, he hadn't really behaved romantically with me since. I wonder if it was to give me space to recover from all the changes...

"F-Forgive you?" I asked. I couldn't possibly know what he was talking about.

"I wasn't able to conjure how to behave after I took so much away from you," he paused, looking so incredibly sincere, "however I just couldn't imagine my life without you now."

My heart raced. He must feel guilty for making me have to move away so far from everyone. But why? We have so much money now, I can visit them every weekend if I wanted. I didn't want him to be-

"I don't want you to be sad," I thought out loud, "Now is the time to be excited! Besides, you didn't force me to move, Yami. I wanted to. Because I can't imagine life without you either."

That was brave of me and he totally picked up on it. I wonder if he was going to try to kiss me like he would back in our old place... but instead he only smirked again.

"I underestimated you." He said, "I was sure that you were depressed because of Diana and the move."

I sighed. I knew it.

He's not wrong, I was feeling down. But not because of Diana and the move. It's because of Yuu. But he couldn't know that of course.

"I'm not depressed." I said, "Overwhelmed maybe with all the change, but not depressed. It'll take a lot more than change to bring me down."

I was always the optimist and Yami liked that. He took my hand as his way of saying thanks and at that second I heard a thud and Juniors voice coming from the hall. We both turned our gaze toward the door.

"Link must be bringing up all the bags," Yami said. I sighed again. If there's anyone who's depressed, it was Link. He was taking Diana's decision the hardest.

"I'm going to check out what you did with my room," I told Yami. I needed some positivity and I knew Lucia was the girl I needed. "I can't imagine it being better than yours though."

"Hmm." Yami smiled. "Your inspiration took part in in the layout."

I flushed. Well then...I guess he's picking up where he left off a month ago...

"I-" I was interrupted by the noises in the hall again and I rolled my eyes, smiling to him to let him know my reason for leaving his side and as I let his hand go, I jogged into the hall. Junior rushed past me dragging Gumball and a suitcase..

"Hey Jane," he said quickly and rushed into his bedroom on the right of Yami's. I smiled at his cuteness and wondered which room was mine. Suddenly I saw suitcases flying up the staircase from the first floor two at a time and I rolled my eyes.

"Hey Link!" I called so he can hear me, "Take it easy, there could be valuables in there!"

After a pause, the suitcases continued one at a time. I rolled my eyes again and decided not to care. After all, if something breaks we can just buy another one.

I looked to the door closest to Yami's on his left and hoped that it was mine. In the old place, I was a whole hall away from him and it felt like miles. I pulled my bag, reached for the nob and hoped.

When I opened the door, the first thing I saw was Lucia and Yugi playing with Link on the ground. No- not that Link. Lucia had got a new puppy before she moved with us and she named him after Link to make him feel better. I thought it was very sweet. It's important that Link is reminded how important he is to all of us, and we are all trying to move on together, like a family.

Yup, I said family. That's who they are to me now.

"Training Link is impossible," Lucia said in frustration and Yugi laughed. I didn't pay attention to them, I was way too distracted with the room that I was hoping was mine. How do a describe the epicness...

On the left, a room to a walk in closet and bathroom. I am going to have to check that out asap. Toward the back left, two single beds, with adorable sheets, where back to back on an angle next to shelves, and storage, our posters, plushies, perfumes, Lucia's sword collection and manga, and a bunch of our other nick nacks. On the back well, my big TV and a cute stand with all our consoles and systems on it, systems which were all likely going to collect dust since Link, Junior and Joey went out and bought a bunch of new ones and more for the living room... but anyway! The right side was probably the most important and what Yami referred too – our studio. The desks made a big L shape along the wall that made up of office desks and drawing tables that Yami had installed. There was an easel in the corner by the TV where the shelves started that were loaded with reference material and inspiration. There were even these pop out shelves that could be adjusted, moved around and customized – those shelves had a ton of markers, brushes and pens layed out in a manner that you can just pluck off the ones you need. There was even a box under the desks with fresh new canvas boards and paper of all kinds. It looks like an art store! The smaller side of the L was a digital set up- multiple computers including a cintiq and a gigantic printer and scanner. As I looked at it all, my mouth dropped.

"Isn't it amazing!?" Lucia said after a few seconds of my starring. I wasn't even done. The most interesting part of the whole room, I had to say, was the strange little crevasse above our beds. There was a small retractable ladder that acted as access to a balcony like thing above our bed and it was covered with comfy blankets and pillow. And, it was hard to see from below, but you can just make out a shelf at the back wall of the crevasse with some books and boxes on it. When Lucia saw me looking up at the space, she hopped over to the ladder and got snugly at the top. "It's great for top secret girl talks, don't you think!?"

Yugi chuckled and stood up. "I guess I'm not welcome then, huh?"

I smiled and put an arm around Yugi's, "Oh, Yugi. You know that you're always the only exception!"

At that second, Link came into the room and grunted for a clear throat. We all turned to see him.

"Have any of you guys seen my-" He blinked twice and took the bag I brought upstairs. "There it is."

He picked it up with one hand and put it on his shoulder like it was Luna on me. I blushed.

"Do any of you guys want to go with me into town? Goin' to see what kind of places are in our neighbourhood from walking distance."

I didn't answer, I was just looking at his biceps under his t-shirt. I grabbed Luna from the ground to control my thoughts.

"I was just going to help Yami finish unpacking, sorry Link." Yugi said as he passed the hylian and went into the hall. Link looked at both of us and waited.

When I didn't say anything, Lucia took over.

"I'll go, I have to walk Link anyway – all those hours on the plane has got him all hyper." She said. Link sweatdropped and grunted.

"I know you named him after me to be nice, but Link feels confusing. How about Junior Link?

Oh wait-"

Lucia and I laughed.

"There's already a Junior Link. Besides, you know you love it," Lucia said.

"Little Link," I said smiling. "Just call him Little Link." Three Links in the house...funny thought.

"Fine," Link said, "we'll leave soon." He left our room and put Luna down while letting out a looonngggg sigh of relief.

Lucia looked at me and blinked. "You good?"

"Link is SO FUCKING SEXY. My GOODness!" I said and Lucia blushed and covered her face.

"Where did that come from?" She said flustered.

"Man, with Diana around I was never able to say it...But not that we're finally alone girl, let me tell you that he is one sexy piece of ass that I would easily mess around with...sexually." I explained.

Lucia turned redder. She got flustered easily. "Jane! Haha! Stop!"

I saw that Lucia found me funny so I decided to continue. "No! I have held it in for too long! Link! You are a sex God and I want you to release your salvage all over me! Let me play with you~!"

I made funny faces and then stopped when we heard a grunt outside. Lucia's jaw dropped.

I froze at first but I'm pretty quick on my feet so I grabbed Little Link from the ground and rubbed my nose on his. "Isn't that right, boy?" I said.

Nice save, I hope. Lucia didn't hide the blushing but walked out of the room with Link to head out for their trip to town. When they were out of sight, I fell backwards onto my bed and sighed. How amazing is it for so much to change in just a month? Nothing is the same, not even Yami. Everyone is still adapting to the change...

The Town

 _Lucia, Link and Little Link_

 _Narrator's P.O.V_

The two had head out for their exploration of the town. Lucia had on her comfy jeans, hat,

head phones – an outfit that Jane would define as the cute. Link didn't change, he was still in his hero outfit. Savannah Georgia was convenient for odd dressers like Link and the rest of the gang because there were so many people living around here that wore even stranger things. Lucia giggled to herself remembering some of the things she saw from the car on their way to the house in the morning.

The new house had a long path down a hill before entering the town below and Lucia and Link admired the rivers and greenery on their way down, taking a few stops for Little Link to mark his territory. When they reached the bottom of the hill and down a short stone staircase, they entered civilization.

"Hey, the closest store is a bakery, that's convenient!" Lucia said as they walked by the smell of bread and cakes. She thought Yami and Yugi had already been down this road when they bought groceries and wondered what they talk about now when they're alone.

"Grunt*", Link didn't respond. He pretended to listen to Lucia go on about her difficulties with Little Link's training, but he didn't pay much attention. Instead, he looked around the area and noticed that it was a very rich neighbourhood that still embraced the traditional village style of living. He noticed an antique shop, a convenient store and then stopped and flinched at an accessory shop when he saw a blue scarf curled up behind the glass. The thought of it made him cringe. He hadn't worn his scarf since the last time he spoke to Diana – the last time they argued, and the last time he saw her.

Link grunted again and picked up his pace to move away from the store. When Lucia noticed him do this in the middle of her sentence she blinked twice.

"Uh, am I boring you?" She asked insecurely but honestly, "'cause you can just say so, I'll change the subject."

Link heard this time and slowed down. "Uh, no. Sorry, Lucia." At that moment, a Diana look-a-like walked past them and Link tripped over his feet, catching his fall with his knees. Lucia immediately knelt down to his level.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked even though she knew he was. Link doesn't hurt himself by merely tripping. Then she noticed Link's shoulders jerking up and down quickly...

"...huh?" Lucia leaned down and was stunned to see what she saw. "...Link..."

Link rubbed the moisture from his eyes with his right glove and tried to pull himself together before standing up again, but he wasn't succeeding. Lucia wanted to comfort him but felt it would be awkward on the floor of the sidewalk so she looked around and saw a nearby adult park with benches, a large fountain and few people.

"Let's sit down." She said, keeping a hand on his left shoulder as he stood up and slowly made his way with Lucia to the bench furthest from most living things. Link was more embarrassed to break out like that in front of Lucia, especially since he doesn't know her all that well yet.

When they sat down, they were silent for a full ten minutes. Lucia had so many questions but felt like she wasn't in a position to ask them. So instead, she just gave him company and let Little Link run around the grass..

The silence helped Link. The more minutes that went by, the dryer his eyes felt. He only cried for that one second on the sidewalk, but his eyes were still watery for a while. And when he felt willing enough, he finally spoke.

"I've never...felt like this before in my entire life." Link said quietly in his raspy voice.

"Felt like...what?" Lucia asked, worried she was being too nosey.

"Everything at once. I'm happy, pissed off, excited, depressed...I feel jealous and envious, but like a weight has lifted off my shoulders...I feel like I'm surrounded, and then alone...Like suffocated, but everything is out of reach..."

Lucia looked at the Hylian and listened. It was like he was talking to himself because he looked at the trees as he spoke. Lucia tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Is it because of Diana?" Lucia flinched. Was that too direct? Link clentched a fist.

"...yeh." He said in a half whisper.

"It's good to talk about it you know." Lucia paused, "None of us have really let out how we really feel. We all have a lot bottled up inside still. It might help if you think out loud."

When Link didn't answer, Lucia decided to start herself. She had some thoughts to share, and maybe it might make Link feel better shareing his.

"Honestly..." she gathered her thoughts, "I feel really sad and disbelieved about the whole thing. I wanted to try to help and fix it, maybe try to convince her to stay with us and make up with Jane, but... it didn't go the way I hoped. I wish I could have done more, if there was more to do."

Link kicked a stone beneath his boot and continued to listen to Lucia.

"It feels weird," she said, "Never in a million years would I have guessed that Jane and Diana would stop being friends, never mind her just leaving us like that. It was just something that I couldn't even imagine."

Lucia thought if saying us was an overstatement. She wasn't really around to see how Diana and Jane were like in the house before she came along. She only just visited a few times before the big break through, and after Diana left, she was around even more to help Jane feel better. That's how she became closer with everyone and Yami invited her to come to Savannah Georgia with them.

"I get so mad just thinking about it! How can she just pick up her things and leave you guys? I haven't been around as long as she has and I couldn't bring myself to do something like that, but she did it so easily like we all meant nothing to her. It angers me so much and I don't have it anywhere near as hard as the rest of you..." Lucia's tone dropped, "I am sure you guys all built something strong with her."

Lucia said, looking at the corner of her eye to Link to see if that sparked a reaction. Jane told her about Diana and Link's growing relationship but she wished she had seen it herself to truley understand how Link was feeling. And surely enough, he did react.

He remembered the derpy Diana that he cared so much for and grunted as he grabbed his hat and threw it to the ground and for a second, Lucia thought she saw Link's eyes glow red. She flinched at the sudden action but did nothing and decided she imagined it. Link growled.

"I don't understand! How does one go through what she did with us and then throw it all away over night?" Link said, loudly but not yelling. "We take her in during a rough time, we have so much fun for over a year, we even put holidays aside to respect that she's different, and she said and did things that drove me up the wall, Lucia! I couldn't even sleep at night! She made me believe that-"

Link stopped when he almost said something he didn't want to share. He growled again and rephrased. "She made me believe that...I thought we were...best friends...sigh*...but I guess I was wrong."

Lucia picked up the green hat from the ground and shook it off.

"Jane tells me that Dee always had poor judgment. She probably said and did what she did thinking it would blow over. She judged the situation poorly, and she was too stubborn to put in the effort to fix the problem, even when I tried to help her. I don't wish any ill will against her, but I am posative that she's hurting just as much as the rest of us." Lucia said, sitting down again.

"Jane said that we are better off without her," Link said, "because she held us back in more ways than one. I can't say I agree with that one."

Lucia smiled. "I do." She said simply. Link looked at her for the first time since they sat down.

"The holiday thing is just one..." Link defended, remembering the Dee he was missing.

"That's a big one, though. Christmas, Halloween, Birthdays - that's something she was willing to take away from Junior's childhood. That's...sort of selfish, wouldn't you say?" Lucia said and Linked looked down again before Lucia went on.

"I wasn't there to see much, but I trust Jane 100%. And from what she told me, you guys had to sort of tip toe around Diana's feelings, and whenever you tried to help her, she wouldn't take that help. She wasn't growing, or trying to improve herself as a friend or person. It wouldn't be a big deal now, but look into the future 5 years from now. In a lot of ways, this was bound to happen eventually."

Link smiled. "Ok, now's the part where you list all the reasons why I should be happy that she left us."

Lucia jolted up in excitement, happy that she was able to bring up Link's spirits. She sat at the edge of the bench, turned to Link, and stuck out her finger like a list.

"Well, besides what I just mentioned, if she didn't decide to ditch us, Yami would probably reconsider relocating the museum, meaning we wouldn't be here in Savannah Georgia!" She said, spreading her arms like she was presenting the park.

"Hm," Link said, "That's true. I really like this place, it's easier to blend in."

"And she was always soooooooooooo depressing all the time!"

"So depressing." Link agreed, "and she always drank all of my milk!"

Lucia laughed, "And we always had to filter our words, afraid that we'd insult her. That was annoying."

"Yeah..." Link said, trying to think of more, "And she was always jelous of me and Jane for some reason, that was one of the worst."

"Or how about when all of her pranks for the Pharaoh would back fire on you?" Lucia said and Link paused with dots for eyes and a heavy sweatdrop.

"How did you-"

"Jane told me." Lucia said quickly.

"Jane tells you a lot doesn't she," Link rolled his eyes, swipping back his hat from Lucia, "but I have to agree with you there. It's funny looking back on the pranks now, but I always had pins and needles in my gut whenever I knew Joey and Dee were in the house together."

"Which was everyday basically," Lucia added, "oh and she spoiled Junior a lot!"

"Yeah! I always had to undo what she did all the time..." Link remembered, putting his hat on. "And at least the Pharaoh will be less bothered."

Link and Lucia both chuckled.

"And Yugi can be himself now, he mentioned that Dee made him feel like Juniors age." Lucia said.

"That's right, and Jane said she can be more herself now too without worrying what Diana would say or do...heh, I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing." Link added and Lucia giggled.

"Well at least Jane wont be bouncing back and forth between Yami and Yuu anymore - I mean!" Lucia froze when she realized what she said.

"What?...Bouncing back and forth?" Link asked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing!" Lucia defended but she was an awful lier. Jane was going to kill her! Maybe he misheard her.

"Jane has been with Yuu this WHOLE TIME!?" Link stood up. Guess not. Lucia was shaking.

"Hey Link, I think you have a hole in your shirt-"

"For how long?!" Link asked shocked.

"I can sew it shut for you if you want-"

"FOR HOW LONG?!" Link yelled, pushing her hand away from his shirt and Lucia sighed sadly. She wasn't getting out of this.

"...5 years." She said and Link rubbed his forhead.

"5!? Grunt* Who else knows about this?" Link groaned, thinking of his friend and how upset he will be to know.

"No one. Well, except for Diana." Lucia answered and Link's eyes widened.

"Dee knew..." He whispered to himself, remembering other events from their old home and he growled. "I have to tell the Pharaoh, Jane is messing around-"

"You can't!" Lucia stopped.

"Why not!?"

"Because! She's been trying to work things out for a long time and she's almost done! You can't ruin her progress, if you tell Yami, he'll get mad and she'll start second guessing herself!" Lucia explained. Link didn't understand what the hell she was saying. He rubbed his hand on his face and sighed.

"But the Pharaoh is falling in love with her and I am sorry if your modern world disagrees with us, but what she is doing is completely dishonourable." Link crossed his arms, "Not something that any man, not just a Pharaoh, would appreciate."

"Trust me, I totally get where you're coming from. Just trust me. Give it a few more weeks, and I am sure Yuu will be out of the picture anyway." Lucia put her hands together and gave Link the most pleading and desperate expression that it made him cringe. He was not ok with keeping it a secret. How could he? If he was in the Pharaoh's position, he would want his friend to tell him right away! But Lucia seemed like she knew details about the situation that Link couldn't understand and he didn't want to have to hurt the Pharaoh...

"Fine."

Lucia smiled and hugged him. "Thank you!"

"On one condition."

"Oh..." Lucia said worried, releasing her grasp on him and waiting.

"Tell Jane she better figure out what she's going to do soon, because I wont keep this to myself forever." He said and Lucia sweatdropped.

"I'll tell her." She lied. She'll put the preasure on her sure, but there's no way she's going to tell Jane that she ratted her out to Link – the man that the Pharaoh trusts everything with.

Link sighed. "You got me all worked up with this and Diana, I feel a little better." He said.

"Great," Lucia said. "Let's continue to look around the neighbourhood and pick up lunch on the way back hows that sound?"

Link nodded and Lucia pulled out her phone to let the others know not to make anything in the house. And as they left the park, they would soon discover a nearby horse ranch, a beautiful lake, and a large hall at the near the edge of the neighbourhood by the entrance to the city.

Later That Afternoon

The house: Kitchen

Yami, Link, Yugi, Junior, Jane, and Lucia.

3:00 pm

"Can't you see, you're ready for the victory!" Jane sang when Link grabbed the remote on the counter and pointed it to the living room to heighten the volume of the music.

"It's clear, you're the hero just for you and me!" Link sang with her, opening the boxes of pizza on the island. Junior danced while he waited for his share and Yugi sat on the stool, laughing.

Lucia jogged back down the stairs after she put Little Link's leash away and grabbed a slice directly from the box and took a big bite, humming to toons she didn't even recognize.

Dipping her slice into the garlic sauce and taking a bite, Jane put her plate down and danced her way to the powder room next to the dinning table and let herself in. When she opened the door, mouth full, her eyes widened when she saw that the Pharaoh was just about to open the door to let himself out.

She blinked twice. That was close.

"Sorry!" She said, barely audible due to her mouth being full and quickly turned around to leave when Yami grabbed the back of the belt on her shirt with his right hand and pulled her back into the small bathroom, shutting the door with his other hand.

"What's your hurry?" He asked, holding her in place and keeping a firm grip on the door handle. Jane blinked twice, swallowing the remainder of her food. She didn't admit it, but she really missed him doing that! She cleared her throat.

"Uh, I barged in uninvited-"

"Uninvited?" He said baffled, playing with her. "You're company is always welcome."

"Duh, but this is the powder room." She said, hiding that she was actually happy.

Yami's third eye appeared and Jane flinched.

"Don't do that!" She said, feeling vulnerable. Yami chuckled.

"Now, if I remember correctly, the last time you felt this way was at my previous museum." He said, grinning. "Tell me, why are you so nervous?"

Jane squirmed away from his right arm, nearly tripping over the toilet. "I am nervous because it would look really weird to the others if we walked out of here at the same time."

"How so?" He arched a brow, "they know what we have."

It wasn't helping that Jane's phone was vibrating in her back pocket. For sure it was Yuu.

"...they don't need to see it..." Jane blushed.

The Pharaoh shrugged. "Then let us stay here." He paused, "Until they've gone."

Jane sat on the toilet with her arms crossed. "And do what?"

Yami also crossed his arms and leaned against the wall oposite of her. "We can talk."

It was silent for a few seconds before the Pharaoh spoke again. "You've been distant since your tour of the museum," he half smiled, "was it because I told you that I love you?"

Jane stood up and shushed the Pharaoh. "We can't talk about that here! They will here us!"

She was making excuses.

"I know that you feel the sa-" Yami ignored her and Jane covered his mouth with both her hands to stop him from saying more.

"Yami, please." She said and Yami grabbed both her wrists gently, pulling them away from his face.

"They wont here you, all the washrooms in the house are sound proof." He answered and Jane stepped back once.

"Why the hell are they sound proof?" She asked and Yami laughed, placing his hand on her cheek.

"It's a luxury, just the the way the house was designed." He answered. Jane squirmed away and slumped back on the toilet again. She couldn't through the music if they were still around. Then she got back up again and leaned against the door for any sign of presence on the other side. Yami watched her concentrate against the door and smiled. For the last month, these were rare moments when he'd catch her completely focused on the present and not worrying about anything else. Moments where she was herself. He hoped that it would last.

That second, the door was swung open, and Jane fell forward to the ground. It was Link. Thanks to his amazing hearing, he noticed the two in there and remembered Lucia's confession and decided to interrupt them if they were up to anything. Yami just chuckled at Jane on the ground and Link turned back around and picked up Junior.

Jane immediately blushed when Lucia and Yugi watched from the kitchen. "Uh..."

She couldn't even think of an excuse.

"Have you guys seen the pool yet?" Link broke the ice, bringing something else up before he blabbed and everyone but the Pharaoh's eyes widened.

"The pool..?" Yugi said, watching Link walk toward the set of curtains near the kitchen and pulling them aside to reveal two glass sliding doors. As Yami helped Jane off the ground, Lucia jogged to the door with her pizza, nearly pressing her nose on the glass in excitment.

"It's huge!" She said, trying to unlock the door to go outside. The pool was large and gorgeous, surrounded by a tall fence for total privacy and neighboured garden chairs and tables set up under an outdoor canopy. Lucia's breath fogged up the glass and Junior drew a triforce symbol from it with his finger before Link put him down.

"It's too bad we had to move in the middle of winter, huh?" Yugi said, looking forward to the summer.

"Well the fire place is bomb too," Jane said, "while we wait for the pool, we can have epic movie nights by the fire with marshmellows and nutella."

"Yes!" Lucia said, high fiving Jane.

Yami also joined them at the door and glanced outside quickly, before turning back around and headed to the kitchen counter for the note pad.

Yugi pulled out his deck from his belt and looked at Marshmallon with a smile. "Can't you imagine the dules we can have in this place?"

"Yes! We can be as loud as we want since the closest neighbours are like down the street." Jane laughed.

"I am still getting the hang of it." Lucia sweatdropped. Yugi smiled.

"We'll teach you, Lucia." He said.

At that second, the Puzzle around Yugi's neck reacted and everyone's eyes widened. Last time they heard that noise, it was-

"Joey!" Everyone said when they saw the familiar face enter the kitchen.

"Hey guys, it's been a while huh?" He said in his accent. Jane ran to the duelist and jumped on him. Joey caught her and did a full 360 before putting her down.

"Welcome back, Joey." The Pharaoh greeted.

"Joey! What the hell! You were gone too long!" Jane complained.

"You were gone a while, Joey." Yugi said with a half sad face. Junior hugged Joey's legs and Joey felt a flush of guilt.

"I'm sorry guys, it's just been rough lately you know?" He explained, thinking about things with Diana and his upcoming wedding with Mai. "But check it out~! And I thought your last house was amazin'. I can't wait to see my room." He reffered to the guest room.

"How is everyone?" Lucia asked.

"Is...Duke doing alright?" Link asked, still feeling akward about him, but wanting to start over since...well...their source of conflict was now gone.

"They're great. After you guys gave us the news, Duke went on a road trip with Tristan and Serenity while Marik, Ishizu and Odeon helped Mai and I out before they went back to Egypt." Joey paused, "They send their regards, Pharaoh."

Yami nodded in acknoledgment. Yugi waited patiently but Joey could see through his best friend.

"And Rebecka is nearing the end of her graduation," Joey answer Yugi's eyes, "and she's been hard at work with the proffessor. They are finally writting history on Atlantis!"

Everyone _woaed_ in astonishment. "I can't believe how much has changed in just a month." Lucia said.

"And get this- if you guys aren't too busy-all your friends want to come over and visit you, Yug." Joey said and he smiled greatly.

"Really?" He said, missing the old days with all his friends. "Everyone?"

"Everyone." Joey repeated, "Even Tea and Tristan want in."

The Pharaoh put a hand on Yugi's shoulder and Yugi jolted in excitment. "Yah!"

"Then we should take them out into the town in Savannah Gerogia!" Lucia suggested. "Link and I saw a ton of great places that we can all hang out."

"Really? Like where?" Jane asked.

"There was a horse track," Link answer for her, "we can go riding."

"It's a bit cold for riding, ain't it?" Joey asked, "I was thinking we could just hang out here."

"We can go to the city," The Pharaoh suggested. "There's plenty we can do." He knew that Yugi wanted to explore the area and show his friends where he's living now.

"Yah and then we can come home to a movie and take up on that Marshmellow and nutella offer." Jane suggest winked to Lucia.

"Alright," Joey said with enthusiasm, "in a mean time, why don't you show me around?"

Everyone left the kitchen except for the Pharaoh who stopped Jane from following the others, grabbing her hand and turning her around.

"What's up?" Jane asked wondering what he wanted. Then, Yami put a folded piece of paper into her hand and kissed her on the forehead. He smiled at her and then left her alone in the kitchen to join the others upstairs.

Jane blushed before unfolding the sheet of paper. It read;

 _I've missed you._

 _We're going out tonight. Be ready at 7._

Jane hid the paper in her pocket and blushed. She couldn't wait. She missed him too.

Jane pulled out her phone and saw the waiting messages from Yuu who was asking her how the new place was. She responded casually before putting her phone away and heading upstairs to join the family.


	3. Vol 1 Ch 2: The Not-A-Date Date

Savannah Georgia ~ ForWARd  
 _Volume 1 – Chapter 2:_ _"_ _The not-a-date Date"  
The Living Room  
6:50 pm  
Narrator's P.O.V_

The fireplace was warm and bright in contrast to the January winter that creaped over Savannah Georgia. The fish tank glowed in the dark hall, and not a soul was present upstairs except for one: Jane, who, the Pharaoh was waiting patiently for on the main floor near the front door, leaning against a pillar and watching the others at their occupation.

Lucia was sketching in her book, likely warming up for her up coming classes, while watching Joey and Yugi duel. She wore her warmest track pants and sweater as she sat on the couches with Junior and Link, who were both eating a cookie, and watching the duel on the other side of the living room that was more spacious and appropriate for a holographic battle.

"Now I sacrifice two _scape goats_ in order to summon my _Red Eyes_!" Joey cheered, "Awe yeah!"

The roar of the dragon echoed against the marble walls and Lucia looked up from her sketchbook.

"I'll never get used to this." She said amazed with the technology from the world that exists the Kaiba Corporation.

"Wait, Joey had to sacrifice _two_ monsters for his dragon?" Link thought, counting with his fingers. "So that means...his dragon is a level 5, right?"

Lucia blinked. "You're asking the wrong person." She said, completely new to it all. Link grunted.

"I've watched these guys go at it for over a year and I still don't understand how it works." He said.

"The _Red Eyes Black Dragon_ is a 7 start monster," Yami answered from behind them. They turned to look at the Pharaoh as he explained. "For every pair of stars above 4 requires another sacrifice."

Link continued to look at his fingers and Lucia blinked twice. "Above 4?" She asked, pretending to understand.

"Joey's dragon is 7 stars - 3 above 4, so he needed to sacrifice 2 of his monsters." Yami answered.

Link face palmed. "What?" He paused, "that's confusing."

Lucia laughed.

"And now!" Joey said, adjusting his duel disk on his left arm, "Attack Yugi's face down card!"

"I am amazed that Joey is actually so skilled at this game." Link said, surprised, dissing the blonde duelist. Then he looked at the Pharaoh and raised a brow. "And where are you going, all _suit and tie_?"

Yami pulled at the collar of his business suit casually.

"I have some things to take care of at the museum." He said.

"I thought you said it was all done?" Link questioned.

"It is," Yami responded, "There's just one thing left to do..."

And at that second, Luna came jogging down the stairs – an obvious alert for Jane's appearance. When she reached the bottom of the steps, Yami gave her a smile. She wore black tights under her narrow pink dress that matched her furry pink boots. She let a loose black shawl hang over her shoulders and her hair was tied up in a _topsy turvy_ pony tail that hung down in curls. Lucia flailed her arms.

"You're doing the extra cute!" She said excited and Jane smiled.

"I didn't know if I should be casual or fancy, so I sort of did my own thing. I hope that's alright." She said as she walked closer behind the couch next to the king.

"You look absolutely perfect." He said, letting himself feel the texture of one of her curls. Then he gestured her to follow him to the front door. "We wont be long." He said.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Link said, referring to Jane specifically, and Lucia immediately punched him in the stomach before he could say any more. The rest of them heard the sounds of their shoes leave the house and when they heard the door shut, Yugi called his finishing move on Joey that took out his dragon and the rest of his life points.

"Awe man, every time!" Joey complained, "Just once, I want to beat the King of Games, just once!"

Yugi rubbed the back of his head. "Haha, sorry Joey. I can't help it." He said.

"It's not a date is it?" Link asked Lucia and she shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't think so." She said, "Jane didn't really tell me all that much except that the Pharaoh was going somewhere and asked her to go with him."

"Of course it's a date." Joey said, catching the attention of both on the couch. "Haven't you realized it by now? It's only a matter of time before the Pharaoh and Jane get married."

Yugi _sweat-dropped_ with a smile. "Well, I don't doubt that there's chemistry, but they both have a lot to figure out before committing to anything _that_ serious."

Link gazed at Yugi seriously, wondering if he knew about Yuu.

"Ah, come on, Yug." Joey flapped his hand, "We've known the Pharaoh for years! He's completely head over heals for her."

"It's not like they're boyfriend and girlfriend." Junior said suddenly. The others blinked twice and looked at the young elf in surprise who was playing with Little Link on the ground. "I heard Jane tell Dee once that she didn't think that the Pharaoh would ever like her because if she knew this would happen, she would have told him from the beginning." Lucia shifted and Yugi's eyes widened as he leaned down to Junior's level.

"Tell him what, Junior?" Yugi asked. Everyone leaned in to hear.

"How should I know? That's just what she said." Junior said and everyone fell _anime style_.

"You know too much already, bud." Link said, shuffling Junior's hair and causing his little green hat to fall.

"So am I safe in saying that I'm not the only one who suspects something weird about Jane and how she acts toward the Pharaoh?" Link asked, looking at Lucia with the corner of his eye. She just blushed in guilt and stayed silent.

"I hadn't noticed anything weird," Joey said, clueless, "How about you, Yug? You know the Pharaoh better than anyone. Have you noticed anything?"

Yugi stood there silently remembering his conversation with the Pharaoh and sighed.

"Yeah," he said in a breathy voice. "I'm not really sure myself as to why Jane rejects him but...the Pharaoh has a few theories."

"What are the theories?" Link asked. He wanted to learn more about Yuu, but because he promised Lucia, he was hoping that Yugi would be the one to say it-if he knew.

"Oh, it's nothing!" Yugi said smiling, deciding to drop the topic. "Hey, speaking of which, what are the details on the wedding, Joey?"

"Nyah. It's all going well except Mai doesn't have the slightest clue on where to have it." Joey said in frustration. "I gave her some options but she's really picky."

"Does she at least have an idea of how she imagines the perfect place?" Lucia asked.

"Yeah, she said she wants a place where people are free to be outside and inside. Like a big room that's half indoors." Joey explained, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning against the couch on the ground by Junior. "You know, so she can have real flowers and grass, and all that other summa' junk."

"Why not have it here?" Lucia said. The others looked at her surprised. "Link and I were in town today and saw a beautiful hall at the edge of the village. It's right by a huge garden with live cranes! It's the perfect place for love."

"I don't know," Yugi started, "Wouldn't it be expensive bringing everything over to this side?"

"The Pharaoh will cover it," Junior intervened again. "If it's for Joey, I'll bet he'll pay for the whole thing."

"I could never accept that from him!" Joey said, "I don't take advantage of my friends." "Actually, Joey, I think it's a great idea." Yugi changed his mind, "We have much more room here."

"But Yugi, then _word of mouth_ will give away your hiding place. Didn't you move to this world to protect the millennium items? If people learn where you are, they could put this world in danger too." Link reminded and Yugi shook his head.

"True..." Yugi answered, "We'll make it so that the guests don't even know they're in another dimension."

"You can do that?" Lucia asked.

"Sure!" Yugi said, "All we have to do is give the guests an address for somewhere back in Domino City and when everyone's there, we just relocate them here. Then when it's time to go home, we'll send them back. They wont even notice the difference."

"Sweet!" Joey fist pumped, "I'll definitely let Mai know. And if she still says no, then I give up."

Lucia chuckled. "Just take her pickyness as a compliment, Joey. She loves you so much that she wants it to be perfect."

Joey blushed. "Yeah, she was always the stubborn one, since the first day I met her."

"I remember that day," Yugi said, looking up. "We were on the boat to Duelist Kingdom. When Mai came to introduce herself, his first words were _woah_ _check it out~._ "

The others laughed.

"Nyah! Hey Yug! How about a little less exposure on my part, aye?" Joey whined.

MeanWhile..

 _Yami and Jane_

"It's beautiful." Jane said when Yami pulled up in front of the new museum. The building was tall and lavish, standing strong behind beautiful architecture and it sat right in the middle of the city. Both of them looked at it proudly with a smile until Jane broke the silence. "When is it officially open?"

"Next week," Yami said, "It's going to be a busy afternoon, that's for certain."

Then the Pharaoh restarted the car and began to drive off. Jane looked at the museum until it was out of sight, playing with her shall that rested on her lap. "I thought we were going to go inside?"

"It hasn't changed since your last tour," Yami told her.

Jane blinked twice. "So then where are we going?"

Yami looked at her for a split moment while keeping his eye on the road. "Into the city." He said, "Tonight is the first night in a while that I don't have to work."

"Why didn't you tell me then, instead of writing that note?" Jane wondered.

"Well," He said slowly, "If I had informed you of my plans, you wouldn't agree to join me."

Jane blinked twice and remembered the last time she said _no_ to the Pharaoh... when the topless king was in his washroom, demanding a date. Jane chuckled to herself. Back then, she would be insisting that Yami turn the car around and that there was nothing between them. But now? Who's she fooling.

"Yes I would." She said with a smile. Yami slowed down to look at her while on the road. He was surprised. Was she going to stop _playing hard to get_ after all? He smiled back, although he refused to allow his hopes to rise. But with that look in her eye...

Yami pulled over near the main square, parking off the road onto some neglected and poorly trimmed grass. He exited the car and put on his leather jacket atop his suit before opening the door for Jane. She got out slowly feeling shy with his chivalry.

"I feel much appeased knowing you're spending the evening with me without my having to insist." The Pharaoh said, helping Jane back into her shall. She shrugged.

"It's the least I could do," she paused, "I never properly thanked you for the key."

 _Hm, is that what this is_. Yami thought with concern. At that moment the two noticed the ground shaking from an intense music base, coming from deep in the square. They looked into the city lights in the night and blinked twice when they witnessed heaps of people rushing into the source of the sound.

"Huh. I wonder what's going on over there." Jane said, as Yami shut the passenger door.

"Let's have a look." He said, holding out his gloved palm to Jane. She _flash backed_ again when she held his hand on the beach over half a year ago and blushed. _Oh gosh...that was the same day I groped his.._

"Hm?" Yami waited and she laughed shyly, taking his hand regularly, like you take the hand of a child. However, after just the first few steps, Yami changed it so that their fingers interlocked with each others and Jane blushed. Luckily for her, the cold assisted in hiding it.

They walked in silence, afraid to say anything. Both of them knew that this night was different and it was just a matter of time before they would choose this kind of relationship. What neither of them knew, however, was that both of them were wishing they could forget the city, return to the warmth of the car and just hold each other instead.

 _I can't do that_ , they thought.

As the crowd came into view, Jane's eyes widened.

"Wow!" Jane said with a big smile on her face. Yami blinked twice. He had to know what was causing such excitment in her.

"What is it?" He asked calmly and Jane pointed at the surrounding advertisements and merchandise that was framing the crowded entrance.

"It's Vocaloids!" She said with excitement. "I wonder what the occasion is..."

Yami was stunned. "Vocal..oids...?" He muttered to himself, but nothing rang a bell to the Pharaoh.

"I am amazed that their popularity reaches even Savannah Georgia." Jane said, stretching her neck to get a better view of the front. Yami didn't know what to make of the situation. He just stood there with his hands in his pockets and watched the cute girl struggle.

"Yeah, the VIPs are just up ahead..." Yami heard someone say, walking past him and Jane. He activated his third eye and and sensed that their spirits were in a hurry. Yami grabbed Jane's hand again to turn her around.

"May I?" He asked her and she just watched him as he guided her around the crowd and behind some buildings, appearing as though he was leading her away from the event. They came back into view and arrived at a a tall stone staircase lit up by teal lamps. As they got closer to the top, they stopped mid-step where they were able to look over the entire crowd and what the big fuss was all about.

Jane clenched Yami's hand in excitement, understanding his intentions for a better view.

"Wow!" She said against the glow of the lights, "It's Miku!"

Yami watched below as the crowd waved their glow sticks in excitement as the blue haired performer sang on stage. From what he could see, she looked very similar to the duel monsters holograms and he blinked in astonishment.

"Is this some sort of game?" Yami asked and Jane shook her head.

"No, it's a concert, isn't it great? I love this song!" Jane smiled, shifting her shoulders slightly to _World Is Mine_.

Yami tugged on her hand once to continue to go up the rest of the way and as Jane looked up to see the top, she noticed an outdoor set up outside the roof of a building with heavy music equipment, folding chairs and tables stacked up, a buffet table and a red carpet leading into the building that seemed connected to the stage below. They must have reached part of back stage as there were only a few people around who seemed part of the crew.

"Is no one going to send us away?" Jane questioned, leaning to the buffet table and stealing a brownie with a yellow frosting _01_ on it. "No complains on my part." She joked, taking a bite.

Yami kept a firm grip on Jane's hand so that she didn't walk off and get separated from him while he looked around to examine the place. The setting reminded him of backstage at the KC Grand Championships with all the tech, but being here in Savannah Georgia, it was much more green.

"You want to perform _Spice_ right away? Don't you want to review the steps first, it was one of your toughest rehearsals." Yami heard when he listened in on three strange characters standing by the entrance of the roof. One of them was a tall man with short blue hair, carrying a doufle bag and a clip board, facing two teens with the same faces as the characters one the advertisement posters. He had a pen resting on his ear and he seemed focused on whatever it was that they were talking about.

"Come on, KAITO. I got this. I don't need to review." The boy across from him said as he bounced in eagerness. He had short blond hair tied back in a small tail. His garments resembled a school uniform and his likeness to the shorter girl next to him was undeniably twinned.

"Yes you do, you always miss the foot work near the end of the first verse." His twin said and the boy flinched with an annoyed expression. He pushed her with one hand into building.

"Just get on stage!" He said annoyed before fixing his yellow tie. "Alright, wish us luck." He said to the other girl, before following his twin inside. Yami blinked twice but didn't question the situation since Jane was enjoying herself.

"Ok one more," she said, grabbing her forth brownie. Yami chuckled.

"Don't fill up," He said, "You promised Lucia and Joey to a movie and sweets, have you forgotten?"

Jane froze when she wanted to grab a fifth and stopped. "Yeah, you're right."

She grabbed a bottle of water off the table as she noticed someone she recognized.

At first she froze and then reacted.

"Mai!?" She said surprised, dropping the bottle and rushing over to the area with the man with the clip board. It surprised Yami as well as he hadn't noticed Mai before. She must have emerged from the building. Jane immediately hugged her tightly, refusing to let her go despite her obvious uncomfortable position. Yami blinked twice again expressionless, and with both hands in the pockets of his suit, he walked over to them to learn more.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jane started.

Mai laughed, finally been released. "Well, I'm here for the concert." She began to explain, then looking at the Pharaoh and waved.

"Hello, Pharaoh." She said. Yami raised a brow.

"Good evening..." He said suspiciously. "How did you get here, Mai?"

Mai blinked. "Yugi let me through."

" _Hello Pharaoh_?" Jane repeated, leaned in and turned her tone into a whisper, "Mai, does Joey know you're here with...KAITO?!"

Mai laughed again. "Well Joey doesn't show interest in business and it's still new with- hang on, Jane. Have you met KAITO before?"

The blue haired performer chuckled lightly, finally being acknowledged with the hype.

"Not that I'm aware. She's young, maybe a friend of Lens?"

Jane pulled her head back completely confused. Yami scratched his cheek with one finger, conjuring his conclusion.

"The boy who just went inside?" Yami asked. Jane crossed her arms.

"Len? Len was here?" She asked, still confused.

"Yeah, he's on stage right now," Mai explained, "Long story's short, I rigged a contest and here I am."

Jane was never a fan of Mai's summaries. She put a hand over her head and sighed, taking it all in. Now she knows how Lucia must have felt meeting everyone the first time.

"What?" Was all she could say.

"Ok," Mai began to explain, putting down her clip board and pen. "There was a contest held to get a chance to get back stage and see the science behind the holographic performers and, you know how I love the sweet life, so I gave it a try and... and well when I came back stage I met KAITO and everyone else and we hit it off, so..."

"So now you're here because...?" Jane asked and Mai nodded.

"I'm their manager! I get to travel, wear cute clothes, drive fancy cars at turbo charge!" She said excitedly and Jane shook her head.

"Wait, but I thought they were just screen projections!?"

"What?" KAITO raised a brow confused when Mai and the other two just looked at him.

Yami put a hand her shoulder and smiled at her.

"It can't be too much of a wonder for you, can it?" He said, "I do not truly exist in this world, myself. It must be another crossover of dimensions."

After staring at KAITO for a few seconds, Jane began to understand, bringing a finger to her chin. "So, they really are just animations in our world, but they some how found a way to cross over into the reality of this one?"

"Wrong." Len intervened with his arms crossed when he returned. "We existed from the start, we just used technology to our advantage to avoid the celebrity part of music. Y'know, paparazzi, interviews and all the annoying media garbage."

Mai sweat-dropped. "Guys, this is Jane and Atem, my friends from home."

"Pharaoh." Yami corrected, shaking their hands.

"Right, I know you," KAITO said, recalling Mai's stories. "Uh, what do you do again...mm, _King of Games_ , right?"

Then he turned to greet Jane who was still in thought. "What's wrong?"

"It's just hard to take it all in." Jane said. Len became serious.

"Why? You were happy enough when you discovered _him_ ," Len gestured his head to the Pharaoh, "the only difference is you don't wanna fuck me."

Jane fell _anime style_ and the Pharaoh _sweat-dropped_ , hiding a tiny grin.

"MAI!" Jane yelled when she stood to her feet.

"Sorry!" Mai apologized. She couldn't help but share dirt on her friends with KAITO and the other Vocaloids.

Jane pouted. Yami on the other hand, was thoroughly amused.

"It was a pleasure to meet you both," he said, "but I am afraid we have to be on our way."

Jane blinked, wondering what the sudden hurry was.

"Yeah, you too," KAITO said, "Enjoy the rest of your date."

Jane twitched and turned back around. "It's not a date!" She said.

"It isn't?" Yami and KAITO said at the same time.

"No!" Jane said, with her face inches from the king's. Yami blinked twice, noticing that he was wrong and the _hard to get_ act was still in play. In that moment, Rin came from inside, quickly rushing to Len.

"Come on, Len!" She said, pulling his arm. "You have to change, you're performing _Cantarella_ with Miku as soon as Luka is done this song!"

"Ah," Len said, about to follow his sister before bowing to the others. "Nice to meet guys, see ya!"

"Good luck!" Mai yelled and then returned her attention to Yami and Jane. "So where are you guys headed now?"

Jane looked at the Pharaoh, wondering the same thing and he put his hands in both pockets again. He could tell that she was interested in staying longer to experience the backstage perks, but concerts and girl talks weren't his type of scene.

"If you wish to stay, you may do so," Yami said, "I have some things to take care of at the museum and I can pick you up with I'm finished."

Jane's eyes lit up. "Is that ok?!"

"Of course," he answered, putting a hand behind her neck and kissing her gently on the forehead. "Have a good time, and be careful."

Yami made his way back to the long staircase and Jane stayed silent, blushing so hard she could pop. Mai leaned over curiously.

"So..." She began, curiously.

As for the Pharaoh, he didn't have plans at the museum at all. His true intentions were to be with Jane, and the sudden interruption wasn't something he was totally ok with, but he was aware that these things happen. And if staying with her Mai for the rest of night will make Jane happy, than he is willing to look past it and try again next time. _Three Days Later_

 _Girls Room  
Early after noon; Mai and Lucia_

Duke and Joey rushed into the girls room and shut the door behind them, putting all amounts of strength to keeping the door shut.

"Way to knock, boys." Mai said with a _sweat-drop._

"I know you guys are in there!" Link said on the other side, banging the door. The boys laughed. Lucia sighed. Link has immense strength, they wont hold him off long. Mai rolled her eyes.

"Devlin! You only saw the house this morning, and you're already causing trouble?" She asked. Duke sat on the ground with his back against the door. He laughed.

"I'm not, I promise!" Duke said, using everything he had to keep it shut.

"It was an accident," Joey said quickly, "Duke pulled the chair that Link was going to sit in and he fell. And worse, he thinks it was me!"

Duke laughed and Link grunted on the other side.

"That's it," he said, "HYYAAAHHHH!"

The door flung open, and the two boys flew back like birds. Link immediately rolled in, attempting to pin the boys down. They successfully dodged him and ran back out into the hall laughing and whining half in fear and half in excitement. Link rose to his feet and followed them out, slipping on the rug in the room, barely missing the door frame, before bringing himself up again and exiting the room.

"It wasn't me!" Joey yelled from the hall.

"Yes it was!" Duke lied.

"WHAT!?" Joey yelled again. Then a loud thud was heard. "Yowch!"

"I got you now!" Link said with determination.

*Chheek~ the girls heard a shutter.

"What the- JUNIOR!" Joey complained when Junior took a picture of Joey and Duke getting owned.

"That's going on Facebook!" Junior said, quickly giving props to Link and running off in his tiny footsteps, holding his camera and Gumball over his head.

"Wait no!" Duke said, getting up to his feet, "You can't! I have a reputation!"

"You're not putting that online for all to see, little runt!" Joey yelled, both he and Duke chasing the little elf through the main floor.

"HEY!" Link said, chasing them again, "Leave him alone!"

The four characters rushed through the living room, past the kitchen and the dissapeared into the backyard.

Yami and Jane blinked twice who were in the kitchen and happened to witness the parade.

"I haven't seen Link this active in a long while." The Pharaoh commented, taking a sip from his coffee mug. Jane laughed.

"I'm glad. Duke and Joey will make for a good distraction to him." She said, remembering Diana. "I wonder if Link has had any progress since we moved."

"Don't worry, he will be fine." The Pharaoh assured, finishing his coffee and putting the dish into the sink. He pulled his keys from his pockets and nodded at Jane a _see you later_. "I'm just going to drop Lucia off at her new school. Think you can handle those four until I return?"

"Lucia doesn't start until tomorrow." Jane wondered. "Does she want to check it out early?"

When the Pharaoh nodded, Jane smiled. "Typical Lucia. Alright, I'll get Link to help me start lunch."  
..

As Yami turned a corner, he watched Lucia rub her noes on the window in excitement. He chuckled at her silliness and pulled into the lot, putting the gears to park. He waited silently for Lucia to get out.

"It's so cool!" She said, admiring the architecture of the building. "So how does the system work here?"

Yami turned the key so the engine was off but the heat stayed on. "You and a few other students will be matched with a private professional who will guide you from there."

"I can't wait to see the inside." Lucia said, pausing. "Why don't you come inside with me?"

Yami blinked twice. "What for?"

"Come on! You're the one who's giving me this chance, at least come in and check the place out." She said with a smile.

"Hm," the Pharaoh thought, looking at the time. "I don't see why not."

Lucia flailed her hands in fists. "Yay." She said, climbing out of the car. Yami turned off the car and followed her out, walking with her into the building.

Inside, the walls were painted a lime green and along the walls were little coffee tables all lined up until it reached a bakery. Yami kept his hands in his pocket while looking around, following the excited Lucia as she checked out the news letters taped to the walls and making a turn into a hall. When they got to lounging area, she was very happy to see a massive improvement in space in comparison to old college. The chairs had felt seats and they contrasted the walls by red colors. She came to a stop when she noticed a photo-booth next the spiraling stair case to the second floor.

"What is this doing here?" She laughed, pulling the curtain to find two stools on the inside. "Hey, Yami, wanna take it for a test drive?"

Yami blinked twice. "I don't think so." He refused. Lucia blinked twice as well in thought.

"Yeah, I suppose Jane would get a little jealous huh? Better not." Lucia said.

Then Pharaoh's eye brows rose suddenly.

"Hm...I suppose she could be..." He brought a finger to his chin. "Let's take a few." He said. Maybe a little jealousy will be good for her. Maybe it will draw her near.

"You sure?" Lucia said, hoping he'd said _yes_. She loves photo-booths.

"Of course." He nodded with a smile.

Lucia climbed in first and made room for the King to join her. He looked at the screen and the buttons, quickly educating himself on the system.

"Ok," Lucia said, reaching into her bag before Yami stopped her.

"I'll take care of it." He said, pulling out his wallet and putting a 5 into the machine. Then the camera turned on and both of them flinched when they were caught of guard with their reflections.

"Oh gosh, is that what I look like?" Lucia said, fixing her bangs into the screen. Yami just adjusted the collar of his dress shirt and waited. Lucia hit the settings and the _frames_ screen came on. She skipped the heart frame, the nature frame, paused at the smiley faces but skipped it for the cheasyness and continued to skip others until she stopped at a standard gold frame. "I guess this is the only decent one."

Lucia selected the gold and then turned to Yami. "Ok, so we'll do one smiley shot, one silly shot and one surprise."

Yami blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

Lucia laughed. "Just pose ok? It's going to take 3 shots."

Yami wondered what he would do while Lucia pressed the _OK_ button. The countdown on the screen began and both of them smiled together for the first shot. When the countdown for the second came, Lucia made a disturbing face at the screen and Yami looked at her in confusion. When the countdown for the third came, Yami laughed at the understanding of what Lucia meant.

"I see now-" Yami was cut off by a Lucia, who gave him a wacky hug, and the shutter of the final picture. As the screen displayed _printing,_ the two came out from the booth.

Two copies of the photos came out. Lucia grabbed them and handed one to the Pharaoh without looking at him, keeping her eyes on the pictures. She laughed.

"Ewwww. I look scarier than I originally intended!" She said. Without expression, Yami pointed to the third shot.

"It caught me mid-sentence. My mouth is open." He said, not looking bothered or please.

 _Hm,_ Lucia thought. _Such a poker face._

"Shall we continue the detour?" Yami asked, disturbing her thoughts. Lucia nodded and joined the Pharaoh through the school. Back at Home

"I wonder what's taking the Pharaoh, he should have dropped Lucia off a while ago already." Yugi worried. Everyone had already finished lunch and now he sat on the couches in the lounge by the fire with the rest of the guys. He was in a loose baggy t-shirt with _Kuriboh_ on it, matching pants and fuzzy _Kuriboh_ slippers.

"Nyah, he probably has things to do," Joey said, "Let's just start without him."

Link, who was on the opposite couch wearing his long pijama shirt, hero tights and bare foot, shrugged and pressed _play_ on the remote. Duke was sitting next to him, reviewing the material in Link's note book, marking suggestions and ideas into the pages of the songs that Link and Yami have written inside.

"What happened here?" Len asked when he came to a song that had been scratched out all over. Link flinched and swiped the sketchbook from the Dice Master.

"That was a stupid mistake," Link said quickly, ripping out the page and crumpling it up. Duke reached out before Link tossed it.

"Hang on! You had more music on the back of that!" He said, taking back the crumply ball. He re-opened it and found some of the Pharaoh's lyrics. "See, you messed up part of another song."

Link _sweat-dropped_ in annoyance with himself and Duke stretched it out as neatly as he could and turning to a fresh page.

"I'll write it in for you..." He said, copying the lyrics into the sketchbook, unable to match the beauty of the King's handwritting.

"Thanks." Link said, looking at the screen where _Spider Man_ was beginning to play. When he failed to pay attention, Duke turned over the sheet and read the scratched out words as best he good, wondering what must have happened to Link to make him behave this way.

Junior curled up next to Yugi on another couch with Gumball and Little Link, getting extra comfy for the film.

"Ay dang it!" Joey complained, rubbing his eye, "Eyelash got into my eye. Aren't eyelashes suppose to prevent stuff from getting in your eyes? Some help they are!"

Junior laughed. "Well I guess you could say that's EYEronic."

Joey immediately laughed and _high-fived_ the little hylian. Yugi _face-palmed_.

"That was lame, man." Link commented. Joey put his hands up in defense.

"You don't gotta...LASH out at me." He said. Yugi and Link groaned in annoyance as this was interrupting Peter Parker's monologue. Duke looked up.

"EYE guess they don't SEE the humor in that." He said.

"Yes, Devlin!" Joey said. Junior laughed and Yugi and Link just waited for them to be done.

Upstairs

"What? No! We didn't!" Jane said flustered. She was at the desks doing digital work on the cintiq while Mai sat in the crevasse over Jane and Lucia's beds, playing _Magnet_ from her phone, knowing it was Jane's favorite.

"Then how _far_ is far?" Mai asked for confirmation and Jane blushed. She could barely focus on her work. She wasn't used to this, this was so different from when she told Diana things. She would always get upset at Jane for being unfaithful, which she understands, but with Mai? All she wanted to know were details. And now that she was managing a group of musicians, she was going to be around frequently and interested to be updated.

"Well..." Jane said, remembering when Yami gave her a key to the museum and how intense it got then. "We made out a few times..."

Mai gave her a devious look. "So you haven't yet touched each other?"

Jane covered her face. She wasn't the type to get flustered over that topic at all. But when it's the Pharaoh as the subject, it was too hard for her to stay serious.

"No... even when we made out it was pretty soft core..." Jane said, until she remembered when he tricked her into kissing him in his bed after Yuu was over. "Except for maybe once, it got a little heated, but nothing like what you're thinking."

"I am surprised." Mai said. "I mean, I was sure after over a year in the same house, you'd be at it like animals."

"Mai!"

"What are you embarrassed about, hun? You were never shy talking about this before when it was Yuu." Mai pointed out. Jane gasped.

"How do YOU know about him!?" She asked.

"Lucia said some things." She mentioned. Jane sighed in anger. Lucia told Mai because Mai had already begun to be suspicious and was about to bring that to Yami's attention. It was her only way of stopping her.

"You can..keep a secret right?" Jane asked.

"Till death, hun." Mai confirmed.

Jane leaned back on her chair with a sad face. "Yeah, it's not something I'm proud of."

"It's fine 'cause you're going to break up with him anyway, right?" Mai said. Jane flinched at how easy Mai made that sound. The thought of leaving Yuu made her stomach ache.

"It's not like I want to." Jane said, "But you're right, I don't have a choice. What do you think?"

"You should break up with him. It's not right what you're doing." She said bluntly.

Jane felt guilty as she agreed and was disgusted with herself. Her guilt was the reason she probably hasn't already gone far with Yami yet.

"How come you didn't say anything during this whole conversation? All you asked for were details about Yami and I." Jane wondered.

"Because it's none of my business." She said, falling back on a pillow. Jane blinked twice. She liked her attitude. Then Mai got up.

"I am surprised you waited this long though." She added. Jane tied up her hair. Thinking about it, she had been unfaithful to Yuu for nearly a year! This made her eyes water.

"I'm already planning to go back home to visit my parents..." Jane said, controlling her shaking voice, "I have to do it in person. I owe him that much for being as amazing as he is."

And as soon as she said that, she broke out into tears. Mai climbed down from the latter to hold her in her arms and comfort the girl. In silence, Mai rubbed her head and tried to lighten the mood.

"I can't say I know what it must be like to love two people at the same time," She started, "But I was interested in Valon and Joey at the same time once. I ran away from it, but I felt much better when I let them in instead of pushing them out. It helped me realize Joey was the one. I think you'll feel better once you let the Pharaoh in. It'll help you decide. But, no matter who you choose, you'd be seeing the Pharaoh every day even if you didn't want to...and I know how you get with him. It's unavoidable, you would just end up cheating on Yuu again, anyway. Isn't it better to let Yuu go and find someone else?"

Jane began to calm down, sniffling against Mai's chest. "Yeah. You're right."

"And..." Mai built up, "No offense, hun, but the King is a way better candidate."

Jane laughed through her tears. "Objectively, he is."

"He's a Pharaoh, darlin'. Any higher, you get to God." Mai said. "A girl can get used to that."

Jane laughed. "That's not why I love him." Mai _sweatdropped_.

"I _know_ , but they're definite perks," Mai said, throwing a pillow at her. " I didn't get that luxury falling for Joseph."

The girls laughed.

Meanwhile

"That was great by the way. Thanks!" Lucia said as they pulled into the drive way of the house. The Pharaoh removed his seat belt and laughed.

"I've never played basket ball before. It was quite the experience." He said.

"That wasn't playing, we only shot some hoops." Lucia clarified. "You've never played and yet, you still got 20 shots more than me... _king of games_."

"You also played well, Lucia." He complimented as he unlocked the door to the house. As they went inside, the guys on the couches all turned to see them enter.

"Finally!" Link said, "The movie is nearly finished!"

"What took you guys?" Yugi wondered.

"Ah, sorry!" Lucia answered, "I convinced Yami to stay with me till I was done."

"Alright, well you weren't around for lunch either so I, you know, ate the rest." Joey said and Lucia waved her hand.

"It's alright, I'm not hungry anyway." She said, "I'm just going to rush upstairs and put on my pjs!"

"What about you, Pharaoh?" Yugi asked, "If you're hungry, I don't mind making you somthin' quick."

Yami smiled. "Thank you, Yugi. But I think I'll also be going up." He said, following Lucia up the stairs.

"I'll come with you!" Yugi said, jumping to his feet and running to catch up to his other half.

"Wait till I show these pictures to Jane," Lucia said as they walked through the hall. "I'm actually afraid of what she will say, she always surprises me with her comments."

Yugi laughed. "That third picture doesn't do you justice, Pharaoh." He said and Lucia chuckled.

Yami smiled and listened to the two talk until they reached the door to the girls room. He and Yugi were just about to part with her until his curiosity got the better of them when they heard Jane's voice.

"Ok, but he's a good kisser." Jane said and Mai laughed.

"Valon wasn't half bad either," Mai laughed, "Was the sex good?" Mai asked. Lucia froze.

"PFF! I am trying to forget that part!" Jane laughed.

"Well was it? It couldn't have been terrible if you stuck around for years."

"Mai!"

"I'll tell you about Valon if you tell me about Yuu."

"You went all the way!?" Jane asked.

"Maybe," Mai said, "You first."

"Ok! I'll tell you about mine and Yuu's sex life. But then you're telling me everything about Valon!"

It was silent in the hall. Lucia turned around. "...Yami.." She said in guilt. Only to find the Pharaoh's face was completely pale and he had the most shocked and horrified look on his face that she'd ever seen. Yugi didn't move or breath, afraid that a sudden shift could cause the king to break. But shortly after, Yami just turned, and walked slowly into his room. Yugi and Lucia looked at each other.  
Lucia covered her mouth with her hands, nearly tearing up in pity and Yugi sadly walked in after him.

Inside, it was dark. Yugi let the automatic door closer shut the door and let his eyes adjust to the silhouette standing next to the bed.

"Pharaoh?" He said quietly. Then the king smashed his keys against his side table with everything he had, startling Yugi. Then he let himself fall on the bed with his forehead in his palms, pulling at the roots of his bangs. Yugi walked over closer and sat next to him. "...Pharaoh?"

"No...what..do I...do..." He whispered.

Yugi leaned over to look at his partner and began to tear up immediately. "...Pharaoh..."

The King was crying.


	4. Vol 1 Ch 3: The Truth About Yuu

" _...what..do I...do..." He whispered. Yugi leaned over to look at his partner and began to tear up immediately. "...pharaoh..."_

 _The King was crying._

Savannah Georgia ~ ForWARd  
 _Volume 1 – Chapter 3:_ _"_ _The Truth About Yuu"  
The Living Room  
7:30 pm  
Narrator's P.O.V_

"Uh..." Lucia said quietly as she entered the living room. She didn't know what to make of the situation. She had just witnessed the Pharaoh discover the truth about Yuu and she hadn't seen him look like that since he lost Yugi to the _Seal of Orichalcoas_. And that's a big deal.

The worse part was that Jane didn't have a clue.

"Hey...Link?" She called when she interrupted the boys. Junior was napping on the couch with Duke and Joey was eating a bag of chips, watching anime on Netflix. Link was just writting in his note book, quietly singing the notes to himself without waking anyone or disturbing Joey's show.

Lucia took a breath.

"Link? Can you come here for a sec...?"

Link turned to see Lucia under the arch of one of the pillars, just able to see her from the lights of the fish tank. She seemed incredibly depressed, so he got up to his feet, closed his note book and walked over to her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her. She cradled her arms.

"Can we talk for a minute. Somewhere private?" She asked. Link blinked twice.

"Uh, sure," He said, leading her upstairs and slipping on a pair of slippers on the way. "We can get to the roof from my room. Come on."

As they walked through the hall, Lucia had her eyes glued to the Pharaoh's door, wondering, hoping and extremely worried. When Link opened the door to his own room, Lucia inhaled the wonderful scent of the natural wooden furniture that was crafted for their room to resemble home. Link walked to the window over the cushioned bench and pulled it open, dropping his notebook on the cushion and handing Lucia a comfy green sweater to stay warm in the winter night. Lucia took the shirt in her hands and wanted to return the gesture. Looking around, she found Link's blue scarf laying under the bed. She picked it up and handed it to him.

"You gotta keep warm too." She said sincerely. Link grunted and looked at the scarf with anger, took it from her quickly and climbed out into the roof without putting it on. Lucia slipped into the sweater and followed him out, closing the window behind her to keep the cold from going inside the house. She played it off, but it was tougher than she thought. She sighed and turned around, keeping her balance and following Link on the roof deeper into the night.

"Don't slip," Link said. Wasted effort. Lucia's clumsyness caused her to slip on a brick and the Hylian caught her effortlessly with one arm around her waist.

"Silly." He said, picking her up with that arm and putting her down so that they were both sitting. Despite he was wearing a t-shirt, Link didn't respond to the cold, even when the steam seeped out from his breath. Lucia blushed as she sat. He's strong.

"So whats wrong?" Link asked. Lucia put her hands in the pockets of the sweater and sighed.

"Well," She began slowly, "Yami just found out about Yuu."

"WHAT!?" Link raised his voice, shifting his weight to face her. "Where is he!? Is he alright!?"

Lucia wasn't suprised at this reaction since it was just a repeat of when Link found out himself. She shook her head. "I don't know, but Yugi is with him in their room right now."

Link grunted, breathing hard in anger and tried to calm himself down. He wanted to go comfort his friend, but perhaps being alone with his other half is best.

"How did he find out? Didn't you guys just get home?" He said through his teeth.

Lucia nodded. "He over heard Mai and Jane talking about him in my room when he walked me there."

"Over heard what? What did she say?" Link was curious and Lucia sighed. It was hard to say out loud.

"Well to paraphrase..." She said, "They were talking about Jane and Yuu's _intimate_ relationship."

When Lucia put the emphasis on _intimiate_ , Link's eyes widened. "You...didn't tell me they went...that far..."

Lucia didn't respond. She just dug her face into her knees. Both to keep warm, and to control her sadness.

"I was there when he heard it." She said with her voice cracking, "He looked completely horrified. Like someone died...right there. It was scary, I didn't even know what to say."

Link put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "You didn't have to say anything." He paused, "Did the Pharaoh, though?"

"He didn't. He just silently went into his room, and that was all." Lucia answered. It was silent for about five seconds before Link shared his thoughts.

"I don't know what's worse...learning that she was with Yuu this whole time...or learning that she's been touched." He said.

Lucia looked up from her lap. "Wha...what do you mean?"

Link stretched out his legs. "The Pharaoh is old fashioned. I am sure he wanted to be the only one to have her in that way, you know?"

It took her a minute but when Lucia understood what he meant, she blushed and then shook her head.

"I think he's more hurt because he feels betrayed. Lied to." She said.

"It could be a mix of both." Link suggested. "But it's out of your hands now, Lucia. There's no sense of feeling sad about it."

Lucia nodded and then arched her eyebrows. "That's extremely hypocrytical, don't you think?" She said, sad voice gone. Link blinked with suprise.

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"Who's been moping around for weeks now over something _out of their hands_?" She asked. Link grunted.

"That's different!" He argued.

"How?"

"Because I am sad over something actually affecting me! You're just sad over the Pharaoh and his problems."

"I am sad for him because I care, even though I can't do anything about it, I can still feel depressed. Just like you're sad about Dee leaving you. Can you do anything about it? No. It's the same concept." Lucia said, crossing her arms.

Link clentched a fist when Diana's name was said out loud. Part of him was angry at Jane for telling Lucia about what happened in the old house. He grunted again then breathed out long and heavy.

"Whatever, it's not the same concept because I'm not sad about her anymore." He lied.

"Ya right." Lucia said, looking at the elf in the eyes. He looked like he was deep in thought, and whatever he was thinking was really angering him and causing him to look like he wanted to rip up the scarf in his right hand...

"Say, why haven't you warn that scarf lately?" Lucia asked. "You used to wear it all the time."

Link put a palm over his head. He could feel this dark ache creeping over his mind that made him feel dizzy. He grunted and pulled the scarf into view. "Uh...Dee...bought it for me."

Lucia blinked. "Oh...I see. Sorry."

"...While on her stupid date with Duke." He added. Lucia _sweatdropped_. Not so romantic, is she? She looked at the scarf and then at him. He still held his head in his palm and she questioned it.

"Got a head ache or something?" She asked.

"No, I'm alright," He said and the Lucia saw the glow of red in his eyes again. Her shoulders jolted up before it was gone. This was the second time!

"Link...?" She asked worried.

"Here." He said, "You can have it."

Link tossed the blue scarf to the girl and she examined it, deciding to ignore what she saw again.

"Are you sure? It looked really great on you, ya know?" She complimented.

"Uh, really?"

"Yeah, you shouldn't get rid of it just because of sad memories..." Lucia thought, "You should re-invent this scarf!"

Link _sweatdropped_. "What do you mean?"

Lucia folded up the fabric.

"I'll sew it up to look a bit different, and then every time you see it, instead of remembering Dee, you'll remember your friends; how they stuck by you and helped you get over hard times." Lucia smiled.

Link blushed at her kindness. "That's so incredibly cheasy and so like you, you know that?" Even though he has only known Lucia for a little over two months, one thing he's learned about her is she's too nice for her own good, and takes frienship too seriously.

"Is that granted permission?" Lucia clarified. Link shrugged.

"Do whatever you want." He said, laying on his back. After a pause;

"So you guys planned to watch Spider Man?" Lucia broke the ice, "Why Spider Man?"

"It was Joey's idea, he wanted..."

And they spoke on the roof about all kinds of stuff for two hours.

 _9:30_

Lucia walked out of Link's room with him at the same moment that Yugi came out of his room, closing the door behind him, looking sad.

"Yugi...?" Link said, "Is he alright?"

Yugi sighed, assuming that Link has already been updated. "Not at all. He felt sick after breaking down for an hour and it tired him out...he just fell asleep."

"What's the next step...?" Link asked quietly.

"I think it's better we all just leave him alone and pretend we're not up to speed. He'll talk if he wants to." Yugi explained. "The hard part will be to keep Duke and Joey silent."

"Just send them home," Link said, "And don't invite them back again until he's recovered a bit."

"That'll only make things suspicious..." Yugi said. "Plus, I think they're staying over night."

"Keeping those two quiet isn't even the hardest part," Lucia said, "Jane doesn't have a clue about any of this. She's been working up until now in our room with Mai. How are we going to tell her?"

"Do not tell Jane!" Yugi said in a loud whisper. Lucia jolted in suprised.

"...Why not?"

"If Jane finds out, she'll be all depressed and freaking out and that will only make the Pharaoh feel worse. If he wants to let her know that's he's updated with her relationship status, then he will tell her himself." Yugi explained. "Other than that, do not say anthing."

After an akward pause;

"So, we have to keep in all this stress to ourselves?" Link said with an annoyed tone, "It's going to be uncomfertable in the house now."

Lucia craddeled her head in her hands. "Urgh, I don't even want to imagine Yami's face in the morning."

"Come on," Yugi said, walking toward the stairs. "Let's try to get our minds off of it."

"It's still early, how about a game of _smash_?" Link asked, following Yugi. Lucia watched them go downstairs but decided to leave them to it and join the girls instead. She took a deep breath at her door, thinking that this was her biggest challenge ever to lie effectively. Hopefully they wont see through her.  
Lucia opened the door to find the girls completely in their own world. Jane was laying on her bed, eyes glued to the phone and cuddled up with Luna while Mai had her headphones on, doing whatever she was doing on the laptop inside the crevesse about the beds. When Lucia closed the door behind her, she caught Jane's attention.

"Finally! Where have you been all day? How was the school?" She asked, sitting up. Lucia had completely forgotton about the first half of her day until she began to remember her journey with Yami.

"Oh, it was really cool. You should come with me some time to see it, it's really something." Lucia said, reaching into her pocket. "Look, Yami and I took some pictures."

Jane took the photos from Lucia and looked at them with interested eyes. "Dang, he looks sexy in all three." She said. Mai laughed, hearing them despite her headphones. Lucia squirmed, doing everything she could to keep her mind focused and off the big secret.

"Isn't that Link's?" Jane asked when she saw the blue scarf hung over Lucia's shoulder. Lucia took it off and began folding it up.

"Yeah, he doesn't want to wear it anymore because of bad memories, so I'm going to make it new." She explained. Mai sat up.

"It's sweet that you're going out of your way for your boyfriend," She joked. Lucia turned red.

"He's no my boyfriend, Mai." She said then quietly, "Besides, he is still getting over everything."

"So you _do_ like him!" Mai snapped her fingers and Lucia flailed in embaressment.

"Mai," Jane said, "everyone likes Link. Even I have a crush on him."

Mai and Lucia laughed, completely understanding.

"Well, we're all out of luck because his heart is still with Dee." Lucia said.

"Please!" Mai waved a hand, "Link and Diana never went out, he just had a little crush. Tell her, Jane."

Jane cockily raised her chin. "Well considering that I was the one to see it all happen from start to finish, my opinion is greatly valued, isn't it?"

Mai and Lucia waited.

"Share the opinion, hun." Mai said with an annoyed tone. Jane wasn't stalling, she was remembering. Remembering every moment she can recall seeing or hearing about from Dee.

"Well, I remember Link was acting weird after that party 'cause Dee got drunk, and he was trying to clear unresolved feelings. But then he ended up dropping it and they became _best friends_." Jane remembered, "I also recall Diana telling me that Link spoke in his sleep saying he thought he loved someone. But let me just say from personal experience, when like becomes love, you don't _think_ , you _know_. And I feel like if Link did love Diana, he would have done something about it. He isn't the triforce of courage for nothing ya know. I think a lot of it was based on confusion."

Mai huffed. "Maybe if Diana wasn't so shy, they would have had progress," she paused, "but I guess that's just better for you, right Lucia?"

Lucia stomped her foot. "I'm not going to try to get with Link, you guys!" She said. "Right now my focus is on school, Little Link and staying sane in this house."

The girls laughed. Staying sane was a big challenge for them now in a world where nothing's fictional anymore. Sometimes they wonder how they stay conscious around guys who happen to be incredibly good looking. Sometimes they wonder how they can keep up with all their different lives and responsibilities.

"What about you, Mai?" Jane asked...again. "You and KAITO seem pretty comfortable."

"If you're implying something forget it! KAITO and I have too much in common. Besides, we're like business partners now, not to mention best friends." Mai explained. "And believe me, I have enough to handle now that I'm marrying Joey."

Jane huffed.

" _Best friends_. I fucking hate those words." She said.

Speaking of KAITO and your new job, I get to meet him right?" Lucia batted her eyelashes to Mai and had already forgotten about being sad. Morning

 _Guest Room_

Mai held her pillow over head, trying to shield any noise from disturbing her sleep. It was a wasted effort, Duke and Joey were already wide awake.

"Check it out!~" Joey said in his usual accent. "It's snowing!"

Duke was already dressed and hopped over to the window next to Joey, smudging his nose against the cold glass and fogging it up.

"Cool!" He said smileing. "Maybe it'll snow long enough to fill the pool and then we can go for a winter swim."

"Yeah! Winter pool party!" Joey fist pumped.

Duke _sweatdropped_. "I'm only kidding, Joey. That would need 3 metres of snow, it would never come down that much."

Joey lightly shoved Duke's head aside. "I know that! I was just playing along, you party pooper."

Mai groaned in annoyence at their conversation.

"Oh sorry, it's hard to catch a joke from someone who's naturally unintelligent." Duke insulted. Joey laughed sracastically.

"Wow, did you think of that all by yourself?" Joey faught back. Mai sat up in her bed.

"Are you done?" She asked. The boys blinked twice.

"It's snowing." Joey pointed outside and Mai rolled her eyes, getting up off one of the bottom bunks, which she willingly took over when Duke and Joey faught over the tops last night to shut them up.

"What's on for breakfast, do you know?" She asked. When she got no reply, she looked at the time on the old style clock hung on the wall and slightly shrieked.

" _Yeek!_ It's 6 in the morning!" She complained. "The sun isn't even up yet!"

"He woke me up." They both said at the same time and Mai groaned again, grabbing her clothes and headed into the guest washroom.

"Seriously though, Mai. You have a rehersal at 8. Are you going?" Joey asked at the door. Once she was dressed in her skirt and sexy top, she walked past the boys, to make her bed.

"Yes of course." Mai said, fluffing her pillow. "Duke, you're coming with me. Tristen is coming by and you will destory each other without my supervision."

Joey laughed. " _Supervision!_ Cause your a kid!" He teased. Duke _sweatdropped_ and held out his hand.

"Congratulations. You can identify sarcasm now." Duke said sarcastically.

"Nyeh?" Joey didn't get it.

Lucia walked by their room and rolled her eyes with a smile. Though it was an entertaining conversation, she couldn't very well sleep with the stress of the night before so she was up early. She decided to stop forcing it and, assuming that everyone was still asleep, fix her hair and grab some breakfast in the kitchen.

All the lights were shut off on the main floor and she walked through the dark based on memory. When she got to the kitchen, she turned on the light switch and was thoroughly surprised to find the Pharaoh.

He was standing in front of the window at the sink with his back turned to her, looking into the drain like if it was something of interest. It seemed like he was holding onto the ledge for balance and he only noticed Lucia's presence after what seemed like quite a while. He turned only enough to see her.

"Oh," He said, turning back to face the sink. "Good morning, Lucia."

"Hey." She said, walking slowly to the counter by the fuit bowl. She looked at him curiously while grabbing a banana. She was worried. She leaned over to see his face, but he picked up on her effort and turned his gaze away from her. He didnt want their eyes to meet. He was humiliated and upset that she knew about something so important that he did not.

"Uh. You alright?" Lucia asked wondering if those were the correct words. She's never had a real converstion with him before and she didn't know how one should treat an Egyptian King, or if there is any anicent mumbo jumbo required or if the gang should still treat him like one.

Yami rubbed his forhead and decided to ignore her question. Still looking away from her he asked, "It's very early. Why are you walking around?"

Lucia shrugged and decided to lie.

"The guests woke me up and I wanted food." Lucia said, grabbing a class. "And water."

She implied for him to move over so she could access the sink and when he looked at her to read her signal, she caught a glimpse of his eyes. She slightly flinched. His purple eyes looked nearly black, shining like glass and they were really puffy. A normal person probably wouldn't notice an after effect like this, but Lucia felt like she could pick up easily when someone had been crying. And from the look of his eyes...he was crying... _a lot_.

"Uh..." She thought and when the Pharaoh looked away again, she knew he was avoiding interaction. "What about you, why are you awake so early?"

"Can't sleep." He said, and walked out of the kitchen. Lucia definitly felt bad for him and wondered what she could do to help without getting involved.

Lucia drank the rest of her water and put down the glass.

Later  
 _1:00 pm_

Lucia has her whole idea in mind. She sat on her bed with Link's scarf, sewing a design into the fabric, sticking her tounge out in focus. Jane was at her drawing table, drawing away as usual. They were doing their own thing with soft music in the back ground until they heard the front door open.

"Ok, bring it this way." They heard Mai's voice.

"This is what you meant by _help_? I only get an hour break from work, I thought it was an emergency!" Link complained, following Mai into the house. Jane and Lucia looked at each other and then quickly jogged down the spiral steps to the door. Link was carrying a large musical keyboard into the living room and set it down to the left of the couches and fire place.

"This _is_ an emergency. Sort of. Who else has the strength to carry that thing?" Mai said.

"Link, shouldn't you be at work?" Jane asked, with Luna in her arms.

"Yeah, I'm going," Link said, looking at Mai with harsh brows. "I expect a lovely set of cookies and milk prepared by my return."

"Done." Mai winked as Link jogged back outside to return to his occupation.

"He even looks hot when he leaves." Jane said blinked and Lucia blushed.

"Where does he work now?"

"Back to construction," Jane sighed, "Until he finds something better."

"Why work at all? The Pharaoh's loaded." Mai commented.

"Men. They have egos." Jane answered, stepping down to the floor. "So what's with the Piano?"

"It's not a Piano, it's a keyboard." Mai said, plugging it in.

"That's what I said." Jane ignored, "Why is it here?"

Mai thought of the Pharaoh early this morning and thought a little distraction can help him out. But she wasn't going to say that and make herself look soft.

"If you must know, I like you guys. But I like my job, too. The Vocaloids need to practice their craft in my presence so I figured that, while I am here, at least they have a place to do it." She explained.

"But, here in the lounge? Yami's not going to like that idea." Jane wondered.

"Why not?"

"I don't know, if it's too often, it might disturb him." Jane theorized. "I suppose if it becomes a bother, we can move it to the basement."

Lucia blinked. "We have a basement?"

Jane nodded. "Yeah it's full of all our old junk and Dee's stuff that she didn't take with her."

"I haven't seen the basement, where is it?" Lucia asked while Mai started pressing keys for jokes.

"We can't, it's locked. You'll have to ask Yami." Jane paused, "Speaking of, where is he? I feel like I haven't seen him in days."

"Uh, you saw him yesterday," Lucia said quickly, "Before he took me to the school."

"Yeah but that was yesterday morning," Jane said, realizing that it's been over 24 hours since they've crossed paths in the house.

"I saw him this morning." Mai said. "He was in the kitchen with Lucia."

"6 _am_? So early? What was he doing?" Jane asked. Lucia was panicing on the inside.

"I don't know. He was just standing there. But he looked like he was-" Mai stopped when she saw Lucia behind Jane, signaling the classic hand over the throat, begging her to shut up. "...uh he was going somewhere?"

Jane turnd around and Lucia played it off by scratching her head. "Why don't you go see him upstairs?" She suggested. Jane raised a brow, feeling vibes but ignored the girls and went upstairs.

"Few," Lucia said when she was gone. Mai crossed her arms.

"What is going on?" She asked. ...

Jane reached the King's room and knocked on the door.

"Yami? It's MJ. Can I come in?" She said politely.

"Hang on!" She heard Yugi say, and soon he opened the door, just as he slipped on a shirt. His hair was damp and he smelled of fresh shampoo. He greeted her with a smile. "Hey Jane. What's up?"

"Just wondering where Yami is. I feel like I haven't spoken to him in forever." She said. Yugi scratched the back of his head.

"That's nice but uh, did you forget that he's at the museum today?" Yugi questioned and Jane's eyes widened.

"The museum? He said he finished everything already, what is he doing there?" She wondered.

"Oh, uh didn't he tell you? He opened early," Yugi pretended to act as casual as he could. "I bet it's quite the scene over there."

Jane didn't understand. Yami wanted everyone to be there when he opened the museum. And to go about this without letting her know? That wasn't like him.

"So, why aren't you there with him, Yugi?" Jane asked. Yugi stalled by pretending to fix his hair. What excuse could he give her?

"Uh, he told me that it would be too crowded and that he would give us a private tour another day." Yugi saved and Jane crossed her arms. Something wasn't right.

At that moment, the chime of Yugi's puzzle was heard. It was glowing on the bed and Yugi gasped, rushing over to it to check it out.

"What's wrong, Yugi?" Jane asked.

"Oh! It's Duke, he's trying to cross back over with Tristen." He said, grabbing Jane's arm and guiding her into the hall. "Come on, let's meet him downstairs."

Yugi stopped in the hall by the guest room and banged the door. "Hey Joey! It's Duke and he's with Tristen! Come downstairs!"

...

"So keep it quiet, ok?" Lucia finished explaining and Mai shrugged.

"So much drama with those two," She said. Lucia saw Jane coming down with Yugi and Joey and nudged Mai in the arm.

"Change the subject." She said quickly.

"So! KAITO is also going to teach me how to sing and play," Mai lied, tapping the keyboard. "I mean, I should be able to play something if I'm managing their music."

Lucia pretended to stay interested until a knock was heard on the front door behind them. Yugi opened it excidetly to reveal his friends.

"Hey guys!" He said with a smile and was immediately hugged by them.

"Yugi, buddy! Have you gotten taller there last two months?" Tristen asked, nodding to Jane and Joey.

Yugi laughed. "Did you bring Rebecka with you?"

Duke immeditaly became sad. "I'm sorry, Yugi. She's really caught up with the research on Atlantis and I didn't know I was suppose to bring her with me... you should go visit her."

Yugi frowned. "Oh. It's ok."

"Ah, I'll tell Serenity to bring her over." Joey said with a hand on Yugi's shoulder.

"Hm," Duke blinked twice, looking at Lucia and Mai. "You ladies look beautiful as usual."

"Alright, that's enough," Jane said, pulling his red top.

"Speaking of beautiful, where's my girl, Diana? She hasn't been around lately." Duke added.

Everyone looked at each other fast and confused.

"Uh, did no one tell you what happened last Halloween, Duke?" Yugi asked.

"Sure! Mai told me you guys were moving to a new place because of the museum." Duke clarified. "Why?"

"Joey? Didn't you tell Duke while you were in Domino City?" Yugi asked.

"I thought you guys told him." Joey blinked, "Besides, I was pissed off enough, I didn't want to talk about it with anyone, especially her secret admirer."

"Tell me what?" Duke crossed his arms.

"Diana doesn't live with us anymore." Jane said emotionlessly, "She's been gone since October."

"What do you mean _gone_...? Like she visits now and then right...?" Tristen wondered.

Yugi shook his head. "I'm afraid not. She got upset with us and left. We haven't seen or heard from her since."

Duke's jaw dropped. "What did you guys do to her?"

Jane's brows arched. " _We_ didn't do anything! She over reacted as usual and that's all."

"Diana wouldn't just leave-"

"But she did." Joey said, shrugged his shoulders. "I was so upset, I actually cried a bit..."

"Cry baby," Tristen commented, feeling the least down since he only every spoke to Diana a few times.

"You guys don't look depressed..." Duke said, a little upset.

"We've had the time to get over it." Jane said. "I know it must look weird to you and we appear like a heartless group, but trust me, we're done mourning."

"But my Diana..." Duke thought. "Can you guys at least tell me what happened?"

"It's too much of a bother." Jane said, picking up a purring Luna and walking up the stairs. Lucia sighed.

"She pretends like it isn't a big deal but I think she is still shocked about it even today. I'll be the first to admit that I still wonder once in a while how she could do that she did." Lucia explained. "I don't mind filling you in."

Duke nodded. "It would be best to fix my broken heart with the presence of a pretty girl." He said. Lucia ignored his comment and sat on the couch to explain. Joey looked around as he shut the front door.

Museum

"Thank you," Yami said when a historian complimented a display. He was playing the part as Pharaoh in the Egyptian exhibit, wearing his all of his gold and expensive royal garb that he would wear 5000 years ago when he ruled as king. He watched everyone take pictures and smileing and enjoying their time when walked aside to another staff member.

"Keep an eye on things, I'm stepping out for a while." He told her. As she bowed in respect, he left the exhibit and entered a room labelled _Employees Only_ and locked the door behind him. Inside was a small comfertable lunch room for the staff to take breaks, eat their lunches and rest. It lead to a second room with a shower and guest room incase staff wanted to crash overnight, however the Pharaoh just sat on a red couch by the lunch table and layed his head back with a sigh.

 _I didn't tell Jane about this,_ he thought to himself. _I wonder if she's upset.._

The Pharaoh closed his eyes, trying to stop the memory from resurfacing. At that moment, the _emergency exit_ door flew open, sending the door knob smashing against the wall. Yami's eyes flew open as this happened while finding a concerned Link entering the building and shutting the door behind him. When he looked at the Pharaoh, he found that the King stayed calm.

"You broke my lock." He said simply. Link caught his breath.

"Nice outfit." He nodded and the Pharaoh blinked.

"Likewise." He said, regarding Link's constuction uniform from work.

"What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be enjoying your big day?" Link asked, with his hands on his hips.

"I was going to ask you the same," Yami said, "Why didn't you use the front door?"

"I tried but your staff has extreme standards. I'm not dressed appropriately" Link paused, breathing normally now, "I was actually suprised to see that many people gathered around, I think the only time I've seen an area this busy are shops after my games releases...cause you know, it's me. I'm cool. I mean you're cool too, with the gold and all..."

Link made an effort to lighten the mood.

Yami blinked and watched Len mutter on to himself. "I see." Was all he said.

"I wanted to check the place out. I was giving Mai a hand with something and decided to stop by before I return to work. Is it going well?" Link stayed positive and it was hard for the Pharaoh to think anything negative with him talking so much. He smiled.

"Can't complain," He answered.

"Why don't you come home for lunch? You've been here since this morning." Link wondered. Yami's smile dissapeared.

"I'll be having lunch here with my proletarians." Yami replied.

"...so we'll see you at dinner then?"

"...I may spend the night here as well." He said and Link blinked.

"Oh," he said. He sat next to the Pharaoh on the couch casually before he noticed the artwork on his eyes. Link turned to face him on the couch.

"Hey, I never asked you why you wear makeup." He said with a smile. The Pharaoh _sweatdropped_.

"It's not makeup, Link. It's an ancient maquillage called _Galena_." Yami explained.

"It's _makeup_ ," Link said, "It's paint on your face, Pharaoh. That's called _makeup_."

"Listen-" Yami was going to protest but Link interrupted.

"Hey, it's cool. I'm not criticizing." Link said, laying his head on the back rest of the couch. "So why do you where it?"

Yami looked at Link curiously, wondering why he was so interested. His third eye beneath is gold tiara glistened and Link flinched. Yami read that his intentions were completely innocent and this just made the Pharaoh feel cared for.

"Cosmetics were very important in the age of my ruling. Depending on your status, it represented different things." The Pharaoh answered.

"So what does it represent on you?" He asked. The Pharaoh adjusted his gold.

"As Pharaoh, it represents all things that are mighty." He paused, "In the 21st century, nothing at all."

Link chuckled "True," He thought, "Except maybe that you're a goth... or a homosexual."

The Pharaoh _sweatdropped_ and Link laughed.

"I'm just messing with you Pharaoh, I mean, I have cross dressed, though it wasn't fun, and no one thinks I'm gay...as far as I know, haha." Link explained.

"Ah, so you aren't?" The Pharaoh joked.

"Nice." Link said. He pulled out his phone and saw a text from his boss, telling him to return to work. __

"Heh," He grunted, putting his phone away, "I better head back."

The Pharaoh nodded and Link stood up to his feet, about to exit through the door he came in and turned around to look at the king once more. He was just sitting there.

"Pharaoh," Link felt bad, "Come home. We're worried about you. Don't you want to talk things out with...us, before we get back to work or school this week?"

The Pharaoh clenched a fist. "I'm not sure that is a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Being at home now will only complicate my healing." He explained. Link sat back down and blinked twice.

"Healing from...Jane?" He asked, playing ignorant and the Pharaoh _sweatdropped_ again. "I thought things were going well, after all, you took her out on a date."

"It was not a date." Yami confirmed and Link raised a brow.

"It wasn't?" He paused, "But you guys seemed so-"

"Jane is involved with someone else." Yami sighed without looking at him, figuring that everyone will find out eventually. "That's all."

Link sighed, partially relieved it came from the Pharaoh first. And looking back at all they've been through, even if he hadn't known from Lucia, it was obvious to anyone who it was.

"Yuu?" Link asked. The Pharaoh only nodded to confirm. "Damn it."

It was silent again and Link smiled.

"Maybe she doesn't like guys who wear makeup." He said. Yami sighed.

"I appreciate the effort, but I am not in the position to be laughing."

"I know..." Link said, "And we'll get through this I promise."

* _Vibe ~ Text from Link's Boss_

"...after work. We'll talk soon. Stay strong, Pharaoh."

And with that, Link was gone.

Later That Afternoon

 _4:00pm  
Jane, Lucia, Mai, Duke, Link, Yugi, Joey, and Junior.  
Tristen went home.  
Pharaoh still at the museum._

The snow hadn't yet stopped falling in Savannah Georgia and it was becoming the first and, likely hardest, snowfall of the year for this area. Everyone huddled together on the couches by the fireplace, using the flames to roast their giant marshmellows. They had crackers, nutella hot coco and other goodies spread out on the coffee table in front of them next to the centre piece bowl filled with candy. Link was the only exception to this, who was near the fire place behind the left couch, playing on his Mai's keyboard at low volume while taking breaks and pauses, writting the notes he likes and conjuring up a potential tune.

Jane had the silly idea to use sticks to roast them as if they were camping out and now everyone used the wooden shish kabob sticks from the kitchen and sticking the marshmellows onto them like so. Lucia put a spoon full of nutella onto a cracker, smacked it onto her marshmellow and put it all in her mouth at once, feelings satisfied and cozy. Yugi came from the kitchen, sitting down and dumping even more goodies on the counter.

"Candy bars?" Jane wondered.

"Dibs on the candy bars." Joey said quickly.

"Oouu, chips~" Jane preferred.

"Dibs on the chips." Joey said.

"Canned fruit?" Yugi added, pushing them toward Joey as well. Nothing was said.

"...Soda?" Yugi tried.

"Dibs on the Soda." Joey added and Link laughed.

"So Tristen left in a hurry." Link commented as he joined them on the couches. Lucia sighed.

"Yeah I don't think we'll be seeing much of him for a while." She said.

Yugi blinked. "Joey, I don't think you should be roasting the candy bars..."

"Back off. I know what I'm doin'."

Jane checked her phone, looking at the time and and thinking about the Pharaoh.

"Dang it. The heat controls are in the basement but the Pharaoh's got the stinkin' keys." Joey complained, feeling cold. He immeditaly pulled Mai into an embrace to warm up.

Both Lucia and Jane sat on either side of Link who was always the warmest in the house with his burning hot and buff torso. The guy was a living heater.

"Instead of huddling, we should do something active. That will warm us up." Link said, who was feeling a little embaressed being pushed up against by two cute girls. Jane's gaze shot up.

"You know what I've been wanting to play with you guys for months now?" Jane began. "Twister."

"I am so down." Lucia said as a matter of fact, "I think it's sad that we haven't already tried it."

"What's _Twister_?" Joey, Link, Duke and Yugi asked at the same time. Jane's jaw dropped and she hopped off the couch.

"I'll be right back." She said with excitment, rushing up the stairs in her skinny tights, sweat shirt and fat slippers with an adorable Luna racing her the way up. Link scratched his head when his right side felt a chill.

"I worry." he joked. Mai chuckled.

"I don't know if you guys will love this...or despise this." She said with a devious grin.

When Jane returned, she held a white box in her arms with drawings on it that were concealed by her hands. She pushed some of the goodies aside on the coffee table to make room and set it down.

"Alright, Link. I need you to move the couches. We are going to need at least 6 square feet free for this." She said. Link blinked twice and Lucia growled. Having Link get up will take away her warmth.

Even so, he stood up and pulled the only couch back that had no obstacles behind as far back as he thought was enough without Mai and Joey having to get off. Jane opened the box and spread out the colored circle mat onto the ground and pinned them down on the courners with the coffee table part of the rug.

"Ok. So! This is how you play..."

Museum

 _Yami's P.O.V_

The crowd was slowly dissipating with every hour and my anxiety only increased, knowing that the closer the night came, the sooner I would have to face her. I've considered the possibility of returning after hours...but her stubborn qualities will only stay up waiting for me.

I avoided the astronomy side of my museum, running away from what used to be a breath taking memory. I watched the people walk around and I mimicked them, pretending to admire what I've already seen countless times when in truth, I continued the war that was man versus himself.

"This place is amazing, I love that all the staff members are dressed like the people that the exhibits are representing," a boy said to me as we crossed paths. He had a note book in his hands and carried a navy blue school bag. I made the assumption he was a student. "But you really stand out! Like a king! What are you representing, sir?"

"The nameless Pharaoh," I told him. "From 5000 BC in Ancient Egypt."

"The _nameless_ Pharaoh? Why didn't he have a name?"

I tried to humour him and put on a false smile as the owner of this facility. "The name of this Pharaoh was said to be a password to ancient magic. It was kept secret to refrain from bandits acquiring it."

"Hey, cool." The boy said, "Hey you look sort of familiar though."

I shook my head. "Must be your imagination."

The boy waved goodbye and continued on to another exhibit. I am sure he's seen me before on this dimensions cartoon _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ . Looking at the boy move on, I noticed his school bag was identical, with the exception of color, as Jane's. I sighed.

When I thought about her too much, I struggled to keep my balance. Every few minutes or so, I need to find a place to rest my head from the thought of anyone else having her. The thought of her looking at someone else the way I hoped she was looking at me...it causes me to feel bitter and defiled, like a cancer that broke out in me all on its own.

I rubbed my forehead with the intention to breath evenly. Perhaps I am making it worse on myself by staying here on my own for such a long while. As much as I wanted to avoid her for now, a part of me wanted to know so desperately what she was doing or if she was aware of my newly found knowledge.

I took hold of my cell phone and decided to call Yugi

Back At The House

 _Narrator's P.O.V_

"Alright, Link. Right foot on blue." Jane dictated, watching Link, Duke, Lucia and Joey on the ground all twisted up. Joey was standing on all fours with his bottom at a 90 degree angle in the air facing Duke, avoiding all contact with him. Link had both feet and his right hand down with his left hand behind his back that he hasn't had the chance to use yet. Lucia was to his left on all fours as well but her back faced the floor. Duke had it easy. He laughed from above with only his feet down in place and his arms freely crossed, watching Joey and Lucia struggle to stay in the game. Link wasn't having a hard time at all with his incredible fitness.

"Alright wears blue?" Link said, looking around for the nearest blue circle to shift over to. "Hey Joey, watch your face. That's my butt."

"Nyah! That wasn't my face! It's Lucia's knee!" Joey said, hitting Lucia's leg.

"Joey! That's cheating! You'll make me lose my balance!" She complained. Link slowly moved his leg so that his foot touched blue, bringing him too close for comfert to Lucia. She didn't notice it, she just laughed when she saw his face worry.

"Getting difficult Link?" She teased. He rolled his eyes.

"Alright, my turn. Get ready, boys and girls." Mai said, taking the spinner from Jane. Yugi and Jane leaned against the back rest of the couch from behind it where Junior and Mai were sitting, watching the spinner curiously. She flicked the plastic arrow and waited.

"Duke, right foot on yellow, hun." She said. Everyone groaned.

"Easy." He said, moving over one circle. "Even _Lady Luck_ has the hots for Duke Devlin."

Yugi took the spinner. "Ok my- huh?" Yugi stopped when his phone in his back pocket started to vibe. He handed the spinner to Junior. "Take over."

"Alright," Junior spun, "Joey, right foot on green."

"What!?" Joey complained, "That's impossible!"

"You gotta do it or you're out." Jane said. "At least try."

"Nyeehhhh..." Joey focused, twisting his right foot over his left, shaking so much to hold the pose that he looked like he was going to explode. "Alright! Hurry up so it can be my turn again!"

"Haha, ok ok!" Jane said, taking the spinner since Yugi was distracted. "Alright Lucia...left foot on yellow."

Link flinched. That would only bring her closer. Why did he have to be flustered around freakin' girls?

Lucia pushed her leg under Link and laughed. "Oh dear, I don't know how long my arms can hold out."

"Just think about that prize, Lucia. Loser treats the winner to any store bought item." Junior reminded her. Mai swiped the spinner.

"And Link, you're torture will be..." When the spinner stopped, she and Jane burst out laughing.

"What, what do I gotta do?" Link worried with a _sweatdrop_.

"Left hand on red..." Mai said. _RED!?_ Link's left hand was finally coming into use... right around Lucia. He started to wonder if the prize was worth this torture.

"Today, LINK!" Joey said, still twisted and uncomfertable. Duke laughed, poking Joey and making him crazy. Link hestitated, but put his arm around Lucia and smacked his hand on red...also red himself.

Lucia flustered. "Uh, that's your closest red..?" She asked. _Link sweatdropped_. Their bodies were in full contact. Any closer and they would be able to feel more than they should.

Everyone laughed except for those two, and a shutter and a flash came with it. Chiickk~

"Junior!" Link complained as the little elf smiled without guilt. He captures everything.

"What's wrong, Link?" Duke asked, "Don't like being so close? I don't mind trading places with you." The dark haired gamer then used one of his free hands to push Link down, pressing him against Lucia even more.

"Hey!" They both complained and he only laughed, pushing harder.

Jane noticed Yugi still on his phone and immediately thought of the Pharaoh. "Yugi, is everything alright?"

"Uh," Yugi looked up to see Duke pushing Link down with both hands and Lucia squirming, trying to avoid as much contact as she could. He faked laughed as he had other things on his mind. "Will you excuse me?"

Yugi jogged up the stairs and into his room, shutting the door behind him. He looked at his phone again.

Pharaoh: How are things at home?

Yugi: It's sort of cold but everything is ok. When are you coming home?

Pharaoh: I'm staying the night at the museum. What is everyone doing?

Yugi: What? Why? Come home, Pharaoh! Please.

Yugi: Pharaoh?

When the Pharaoh stopped replying, Yugi immediately decided to call him. As the phone rang, he hoped he would pick up. At the last ring, he got lucky.

"Yes, Yugi?" The Pharaoh asked, hesitant to pick up but couldn't ignore his little Yugi.

"What do you _mean_ you're staying there over night!? You have to come home, Pharaoh. This wont change anything." Yugi worried. The Pharaoh sighed.

"I'm just unsure how to behave at home." Yami said.

"What do you mean? We dicussed this last night!" Yugi said, wanting to raise his voice, but keeping it low. "You were going to act like you didn't know until you were ready to talk to her."

The Pharaoh stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "It's hopeless, Yugi. I can't pretend like that, she'll see right through my charade."

Yugi ran into the bathroom where it was sound proof and shut the door.

"Then I'll stay there with you!" Yugi said louder, "So that you're not by yourself."

"No Yugi, that will only make the others suspicious." The Pharaoh spoke quietly.

"Lucia and Link can help us out," Yugi said, "They'll cover for us."

The Pharaoh wasn't budging. He wanted to be alone and he knew Lucia was an awful lier. If he was alone in the museum, he could blame work. Having Yugi with him wouldn't make sense.

"No Yugi."

"But-"

"NO, Yugi."

Yugi sighed sadly. "But I've never been apart from you before, at least not by choice."

"...what are the others doing?" The Pharaoh asked and Yugi sighed again.

"If it's Jane you're asking for, she's down stairs dictating _Twister_ with Mai and Junior."

"Is she...happy?"

"Sure, she's as blissful as ignorance. Does that count?" Yugi clarified.

"Alright...I'll be home tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"You better mean that, Pharaoh. If you don't come home tomorrow, I'll tell Jane to go pick you up!" Yugi lied. He would never do that to him, but he hoped his bluff would pressure him.

"That wont be necessary, Yugi. I will be home."

"Alright..." Yugi said and the Pharaoh hung up.

**

Joey fell back on top of Link who pushed Lucia down with enough weight that her back hit the floor. Everyone else laughed.

"Wait, are Lucia and Link out even though Joey caused the fall?" Junior asked. Jane shrugged as she looked at the box.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so." She said, "Duke is the winner."

Duke bowed in victory and flaunted at the others. "I win." He said. "And Joey, since you lost balance first, that makes you the loser."

"Nyah!" Joey stood to his feet, "It better be something I can afford Devlin! Don't go too crazy!"

Duke smiled, crossing his arms. "I want a kareoke machine." He said. "Instulled right here."

Everyone blinked. "That's a great idea, actually." Jane said, who also enjoyed to sing.

"A singin' machine?" Joey wondered. "How much do those go for?"

Mai laughed. "No less than a couple hundred bucks, that's for sure."

"WHAT!?" Joey complained, "A _couple hundred_?"

"That's not expensive." Duke said and Joey huffed.

"Not for you, mister rich owner of a gaming company." Joey complained. Duke raised a brow.

"I'm sorry, I thought champion duelists won a lot of prize mone-oh that's right, you're just the runner up every time. My mistake."

Joey growled in anger and Lucia patted his shoulder, trying to keep him calm.

"How about this," Jane suggested, "Joey can treat us all to a karaoke night some time in the city and if we like the idea, we can all pitch in for a machine at home."

"We don't need a whole karaoke machine, Link's the only one who sings." Joey whined.

"I sing!" Jane crossed her arms.

"And I wanna learn," Mai added. "KAITO has already been giving me some lessons."

" _Singing lessons_ , you mean your dates?" Joey said, jealous.

"What?" Lucia said confused. Jane shook her head.

"Joey, why do you talk?" She asked. Joey blinked.

"What? I know that KAITO is after my woman." Joey said dumbfoundedly.

Mai sighed. "Where did you get that idea from?"

Joey shrugged. "I don't know you're always together, I just thought-"

"You and Dee used to be together all the time. Would you date her?" Jane asked. Joey flinched.

"Ew no! She was like my-"

"KAITO is like my fabulous brother," Mai said, holding Joey's hand. "Don't worry, Joey. I'm not going anywhere."

"You betta not." He blushed.

Jane raised a brow and Lucia yawned.

"Right, so how late is it? I am already getting exhausted." She said.

"Looks like it's already 11!" Yugi said surprised, "We better get ready to call it a night."

Jane lightly gasped. "Where's Yami?"

Yugi frowned. "Oh, he's staying over night at the museum. It got really busy."

"Wow, really?" Junior commented, "That's never happened before!"

"Yeah, I stopped by earlier, it was intense." Link added. Everyone who knew about the Pharaoh's current depression all shared guilty glances and Jane immediately became suspicious.

First, he's no where to be found for over 38 hours. Then he doesn't tell her about the museum. Then, he doesn't want his friends there, now he's staying over night? _What the hell!?_

That was enough for her. She was going to find him.

"Ok...I'll go get ready for bed then," She lied, rushing upstairs to get out of her Pjs. She threw her walk in closet open upset. Why the hell was Yami staying at the museum over night? She looked through her dresses and grabbed her favorite black one and began to strip. She had to look decent in case the place was still open and full of people. She rushed to the mirror and fixed up her hair, tying it up into a topsy turvey and shoving her feet into her short heel boots.

When she reached the bottom, she headed straight for the front foor.

"Where are you going?" Joey asked and Jane flinched.

"...to the convenient store." She lied again, opening the door and shut it before anyone could question her.

"Why did she dress up for the store...?" Lucia asked. Duke _sweatdropped_.

"She's going to go see the Pharaoh." He said bluntly.

"Should we stop her?" Link asked and Yugi sighed.

"...No." He said.

Jane shut the car door and started the engine. The second car they used for emergencies.  
She hated driving, especially in the dead of night and in Savannah Georgia where she was completely unfamiliar with. She didn't care. As she reversed, she thought only of Yami.

When she found her way to the museum, she noticed that there were almost no filled parking spaces. She swallowed a lump in her throat when she realized she was alone...watching causes her imagination to run wild.

She climbed out of the vehicle tucked into her long jacket and held herself together as she entered through the front using the key that the Pharaoh gave to her. Locking the doors behind her, she opened her jacket so she was comfortable and let herself into the first exhibit of _Ancient Egypt_.

"Yami?" She asked. There was no one around. Had it not been for the shining gold on the walls, the room would be nearly pitch black. Jane looked around for any light switches and when she saw that they were no where to be found, she realized that they were probably in a control panel somewhere away from visitors reach. She huffed.

"Shoulda brought a weapon.." She whispered to herself, still freaked out. She walked slowly through the hall, being careful not to knock into anything until she made a turn into an exhibit with beautiful art of intriguing dragons. Likely a _Chinese History_ exhibit. She sqinted, barely able to see the details. "Yami, are you here?" She asked in a shaky voice and sighed.

"What the hell am I doing here anyway." She asked herself, then she lost track of where she was and pumped right into a pillar head first.

"...OW! God dammit!" She complained, rubbing her head. "What the?" She blindly felt the surface of what she hit and growled. "Really!?"

She leaned her head against the pillar, rubbing the side where she bumped it and worrying. If Yami was staying here over night, why would he leave all the lights off? Was he upstairs? Maybe in one of the staff rooms? ...What if he's gone home already?

She just stood there in the dark wondering what the point of being here really was. Should she just go home? It was obvious that Yami wasn't here...

At the same time that she sighed, the lights for her section turned on. Jane looked up in confusion wondering what set them on and she quickly turned around with focused eyes and froze when she found the source.

The Pharaoh _was_ here. He was standing there in the hall near a control panel on the wall, wearing his full garbs from his days as the Egyptian King and he was watching her with wide eyes – what was she doing here so late?

"Yami." Jane immediately smiled and jogged her way over to him, granting herself permission to throw her arms around him into a tight and honest embrace. Still in shock, the Pharaoh hesitated at first but returned the gesture. Her scent was just as he liked it and he sighed in dissapointment. He still had nothing to say.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in days," Jane looked up without letting him go. "Why didn't you come home tonight?"

The Pharaoh didn't answer her. He just looked at her, for the first time since he learned the truth. He didn't speak. Jane blinked and loosened her grip.

"What's wrong, are you sick?" She asked, putting a hand on the side of his face to feel his temperature. "Why don't we find you something cool to drink?"

The Pharaoh was shaking. She was still acting the same as usual and he wondered how she could possibly do this when she had someone else in her heart. He pulled away in a cruel manner and began walking past her toward the pillar she had been standing by before.

"No, thank you." He said coldly. Jane turned around worried.

"Uh," she said, following him slowly, even though she was nearly 6 meters away. "...ok. Why don't we make our way home then...?"

Yami noticed she was keeping a distance and felt it was easier to think. He leaned against the golden piller in the middle of the hall and tried to conjur up a strategy to get rid of her.

When the Pharaoh didn't reply, Jane cleared her throat. "Is...everything alright?"

Now that the lights were on, Jane could see the beauty of the exhibit that glowed from chinese laterns and stood out from the beautiful carvings on the stone walls. Along the walls were rare and amazing artifacts and in the middle of the hall were a few pillars, each framing a chinese style bench with swirling gold trim and and bright red designs. It was a beautiful set up for sure, but she was far too invested in her paranoia to appreciate it.

She began to walk closer to him and noticed this his posture tensed up the closer she got to him. She stopped a few feet away and waited. Waited for him to speak.

"Why are you here?" The Pharaoh finally managed to say after several long seconds. "It's much too late."

Jane shivered at the sound of his deep voice.

"I heard you were staying the night and I got worried." She answered.

"You have nothing to be worried over," He said in a half whisper. "Go home."

Jane blinked. "Hey...cut me some slack. It took a lot of guts for me to come all the way down here by myself this late." She said, "Can you...at least escort a girl home?"

Yami didn't budge. He just put a hand on the piller for balance and stayed silent. Jane sighed. As attractive as his back view was, she would like to see a persons face when she's speaking to them.

"You know I hit my head pretty hard," Jane tried small talk, "Do you have some ice or something?"

"...There is plenty at home." He said in a breathy voice. "Now, leave."

Jane's heart set off. _What was going on?_

"W...why are you being so cold to me?" She asked. No reply.

She walked closer to him to see his face. He avoided her gaze so she put her hand on his on the piller and waited for him to turn around.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked. Yami took a deep breath and tried to put on his usual poker face.

"That's an understatement." He replied. He decided that now's as good time as any.

Jane's eyes flew open.

"I...but..." Jane was suprised, retracing her steps the last two days and wondering what she missed. "I didn't know I did anything to-" She paused, "Please, tell me what I've done so I can apologize."

Yami finally looked at her with dark eyes of betrayal. This made Jane shutter, feeling very sad and scared of him. Yami pulled his hand away from hers.

"Are you suggesting that there's _nothing_ you can recall that you've done wrong to me?"  
The Pharaoh asked, "Something...mortifying?"

Jane shrugged her shoulders. "I...I can't remem-"

"Please don't." The Pharaoh said, "You've fabricated this long enough."

Jane was frozen. She was scared to breathe, let alone speak. She honestly couldn't recall doing anything that could anger the Pharaoh to this extent. Unless...

Jane put her hands over her mouth. She was shaking now as well.

"Did...someone...tell you something?" Jane suspected, hoping to God it wasn't what she thought.

Yami clentched a fist. _What kind of a question is that?_

"So, you fear that someone might have manifested something you didn't want known?" The Pharaoh asked in an almost growl, his posture giving her his full attention. "What might that be?"

He wanted her to say it, but she was still in denial.

"No, I just-"

"That's enough. Get out." He said, "I don't want to discuss this if you'll only refuse to tell me."

Jane became tired of the interruptions and the attitude.

"Tell you _what_!?" She said in annoyence. Yami smacked the pillar with his left hand in extreme anger, causing Jane to jump.

"I ASKED YOU if Yuu was something I should be concerened about and you said _no_."  
The Pharaoh said, nearing the end of his sentance with a cracking voice. "I put my trust in you, and you dishonoured me..."

The Pharaohs tone turned quiet and his eyes were reflective. With the sight of this and the words he spoke, Jane's eyes copied him. It was silent for a few seconds before Yami turned around when he felt himself lose control of his emotions.

As much as Jane would like to know how the Pharaoh found out, that was the last thing she would ask him with the state he was in. The tears ran down her face because she couldn't handle seeing Yami this way. She could sense how dissapointed he was and she worried that he would never trust her again.

"I'm sorry." Jane said, voice cracking. "I wanted to tell you since the first day we all met, I really did."

The Pharaoh pulled himself together and was able to stop his eyes from creating any more moisture. He took a deep breath and turned around curiously.

"And why didn't you?" He said calmly, feeling guilty for making Jane cry.

"Because..." Jane tried to summarize. "Because I didn't think you would ever want me."

The Pharaoh focused his eyebrows, not understanding what she meant and Jane whiped her tears with the sleave of her jacket.

"I was crazy about you before we even met or before I knew you existed." She explained, "When I met you, I thought I was so out of your league. I didn't tell you that I was dating Yuu because I was living in a fantasy. I felt like if you didn't know then it wasn't real and I could love you as much as I wanted without guilt...I never thought in a million years that you would ever return my feelings."

The Pharaoh's heart skipped a beat. She's loved him all along...and this was the first time she's ever admitted it to him...but it didn't change his feelings, he was still too upset. He decided to continue to listen to her story.

"So when you started showing affection I panicked. I was happy but I avoided you because I knew I was lieing." She paused.

"Why did you stay with him then?" The Pharaoh asked confused.

"What?"

"You didn't have to lie all this time. You could have put an end to things long before." He clarified.

Jane sighed and looked down. It was upsetting that he had to find out the truth about him when she had already decided to call it off. It was just bad timing. Then she remembered.

"I'm going to break up with him." She said. The Pharaoh rubbed his forehead.

"Do you think that will change how I feel?" He asked, "I'm not upset that you are in a relationship, I am upset because you lied when you did not have to. You could have easily made your choice and left the other behind."

Jane put a hand on the Pharaoh's chest.

"But Yami, you were always my choice." She explained.

"Then why deceive me!?" He said, slightly louder than standard volume. Jane looked down.

"...Yuu is a really amazing person." She paused, "At first it was because I didn't think you'd like me, sure, but...I've only taken this long to break up with him because I don't have the guts."

"You...lack courage?"

"Yuu is the definition of a perfect boyfriend, he does everything right!" Jane complained. "If I break up with him, he'll ask me why and-"

Jane shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "What am I going to say? _Sorry Yuu_ , I fell in love with someone else? Despite you always being there, giving me all I need and doing nothing wrong at all, that still wasn't enough for me?"

The Pharaoh's sadness was beginning to evaporate. With Jane's explanation, he was begining to understand her point of view.

"I see." He said. "Yuu doesn't deserve what you've done any less than I do," He said, "He's a good man."

Jane half smiled. "He is."

It was silent for a moment and then the Pharaoh become sad again.

"Jane," he started, catching her attention. "The lie wasn't what upset me the most."

He took a few steps around the pillar by the surrounding bench. Jane blinked twice and followed.

"Wh...well then what was it...?" She worried. Yami sighed.

"It was the thought of someone else having you." He said, putting a strong hand on her cheek. "The thought of you looking at someone the way I've known you to look at me - after I've already alleged you as mine."

Jane blushed. "I don't think I've ever looked at him the way I look at you."

Yami grinned. "I've longed for you to speak such words," He paused, "I held myself back...and my grieving thirst that I had to take you."

Jane clenched the linen on his chest. "Well, nothing's stopping you now..."

The Pharaoh squinted in desperation, leaned in slowly and kissed her. It was beautiful but short. He pulled away immedietly and sat himself down on the bench. Jane bit her lip. She wasn't pleased with that move.

"But there is," The Pharaoh replied. "Until you dismantle things with Yuu, I can not persue you anymore."

"I told you I'll-"

Jane tripped over the bottom of the pillar and the Pharaoh caught her, slowly putting helping her sit down beside him. He chuckled at her for the clumsiness.

"...dump him." She finished, scratching the back of her head, embaressed.

"Then I will come for you once you have." He paused, "It's just respect. I wont take what is already taken."

Jane pursed a lip. "Hmph, you make that sound so easy."

"Oh, it will be anything but easy," The Pharaoh said, noticing her loosened jacket coming off. "It never was. Especially now, sitting near me with a capturing iris, handsome long hair and a short gown off the shoulder..." He chuckled, "A strong provocking low-cut."

Jane blushed with a smile and leaned closer to the kind.  
"Are you suggesting that I'm...sexy?" She played. The Pharaoh looked at her casually.

"Without Question," He said and turned his face away when Jane made the move for another kiss.

Yami laughed softly at a memory.

"This reminds me of that night you put your leg over me a few months ago, do you recall that?" He asked.

Jane blushed. "Well...you...I mean...you weren't flirting with me like usual so I was just checking to see if you-"

"I knew you yearned for me." The Pharaoh said, "I always knew. It just feels good to know that I wasn't percieving it and that it's really true."

"I remember." Jane couldn't control herself. The Pharaoh was speaking in that perfect voice, with that perfect face...implying that she was turning him on and in his Pharaoh outfit on top of that. Neither of them could believe what she did next.

"I did something like this." She said, standing up and bringing her leg over him so that she sat on his lap, one leg on each side, facing him. She put her hands on his chest softly and seductively.

The Pharaoh had a poker face, but in his mind were wild thoughts. Suprised he was.  
He placed his hands on her thighs and looked at her, waiting for her next move.

"And I remember you completely rejecting me too," She said with a raised brow and the Pharaoh smiled, trying to keep his eyes on her face when he noticed that her short dress was rising up in response to her spread limbs, casuing a subtle redness to plaster his face. Jane noticed this and she blinked twice.

"Are..." She smiled, "Is the _mighty Pharaoh_ actually blushing?"

The Pharaoh avoided her gaze.

"Impossible," He lied, still with his mind on the fact that her sacred quarter was just inches from his own.

"You are," She laughed, "I like that look on you."

She was flirting with him more than ever.

The Pharaoh was in complete bliss with the standing of the situation that all he could do was admire her. And slowly, he was forgetting everything else and thinking nothing of the beauty that hovered over him. Instinctively, the Pharaoh caressed his hands over her shoulders, pushing her coat back and listening to the sound it made when it dropped to the floor. Jane allowed this like she removed it herself. Yami griped her her upper thighs with his strong hands and Jane could feel the gold from his rings pressing against her flesh as his breathing suddenly became deeper.

"...May I?" He asked, as his hands slowly slid higher and his face moved closer. Too many butterflies emerged in her stomach and she didn't even know what he was asking. _May he what?_

She was so invested in his scent that she couldn't find the will to speak. Since she didn't protest, the Pharaoh assumed consent and he immediately released a strong sigh when their lips pulled together and his hands lightly brushed her bottom and up to her lower back. Jane put her fragile arms around and behind Yami's neck, waving her body closer to him so that their torso's touched. The kiss got deeper and the Pharaoh pulled her lower body even closer, so that not an inch seperated them. Jane noticed this, and rocked her hips in response as she decided to explore as well, touching and feeling the shape of his arms and chest and getting to know his body on a level she didn't know before.

The intimacy brought the Pharaoh at the edge of his seat, having to hold her with his strength to prevent her from falling. The pace picked up, their bodies were moving...Jane's dress had risen far enough to reveal her lingerie and the Pharaoh intended to remove it completely until they had to pull away endearment to breathe.

When this happened, Jane hid her face under his neck and they both stayed there, panting and catching their breaths from that short but intense moment, slowing down their curious hands. With every inhale, Yami's right mind began to return and he closed his eyes, tightly holding the girl as though he'd wake up from a dream if he let her go.

Jane sighed. "I wanted to do that for a while..."

The Pharaoh smiled but shook his head. "That was completely wrong and irresponsible."

Jane pulled back to see his face and blinked twice. The Pharaoh held her tightly as he stood to his feet and kept her close while her feet touched the floor. Still with their bodies in contact, he pulled the bottom of her dress down without looking so that she was completely covered again.

"This is the last time you make me lose self control." He said with a serious look.

"No one can force someone to do something they wouldn't already do on their own." Jane said, picking up her jacket. Yami _sweatdropped_. She's cunning.

"You've managed to convince me to to return to the house," He paused, "But we still have much to discuss..."

Jane put on her jacket in confusion. "We do? What else is there?"

Yami was already feeling tired as it was past hours. He didn't want to tell her what was left and risk the chance of having to talk about it when he was in need of a desperate hibernation from all the stress he's Indored the last 2 days.

"After you've spoken to Yuu," Yami said, "We will talk. But until then, our relationship becomes strictly professional, understood?"

Jane pursed a lip. How can he be so attractive with his classiness and so _not_? She groaned and then played it cool.

"Alright," she shrugged, passing the Pharaoh and brushing her breasts against his arm as she walked. " _If_ you can keep it so."

Jane began to leave the museum, walking ahead of him and Yami just watched her leave, completely moved by her and stunned by the status of his love for her. How ironic that just a few days ago, he was chasing a stubborn girl who played hard to get. And now, she's completely offering herself and he is the one being forced to hold back? It took everything he had just now not to finish what they _nearly_ started and he as amazed with himself that he was even able to refuse her.

He sighed. "What a nuisance." He said smiling.  
The Next Morning

 _10am BackYard  
Yugi, Link, Junior, Duke, Joey and Lucia_

The snowfall became a blizzard over night and it had finally settled with sunrise. The snow was of packing quality and this was known to the heros of Savannah Georgia thanks to Duke and Joey who were the first out the door to test it. Yugi, Junior, Link and Lucia decided to build a snow man while Little Link played in the snow nearby and Duke and Joey have begun to stack up on ammo, agreeing to a war as soon as they've created enough snowballs and a stable fort.

Lucia blushed looking at Link in his usual hero attire as it was warm enough for the cold, except he had on a pair of blue ear muffs matching his blue full-fingered gloves. All that was missing was his scarf to match...she had been meaning to give it to him but it's not yet finished. She watched him pat down the snow onto the base of their snowman.

"Look!" Junior interrupted her thoughts when he showed her two pairs of pointy, triangular shaped rocks. "Gumball found them!"

Link chuckled. "What are those for?"

Junior held the rocks over his ears. "He can be a _hylian_!" They laughed.

"Now why didn't I guess that?" Yugi played.

Duke closed down a loose button on his jacket, making sure he was nicely snug and shielded for the upcoming war. He laughed to himself, intentionally wearing something to camoflauge in the snow, unlike Joey who was wearing bright colours in total contrast against his fort.

"Almost done there, Joey?" Duke asked as he continued to pile up more snowballs.

"Just wait, Devlin. You don't know what's coming to you." He replied.

Just then, the Pharaoh came out for some air, also covered up in a blue turtleneck, dark snug wool pants and his usual boots. When everyone else noticed him, they looked in suprise. He came home extremely late with Jane and by the time they returned, everyone had fallen asleep without any idea that he was home at all. Most were afraid to say anything.

"Hey, Yami! Did you end up figuring everything out?" Duke asked with a smile, standing up from his side of the war field and walked slowly to the king. He was picking up the girls habit calling him _Yami_. Yugi _sweat-dropped_.

"Pharaoh," He corrected, "Good Morning."

"So, Jane left last night to go after you. Did you guys have a quick _make up-make out_ sesh?" Duke asked. Joey blinked twice.

"Dude!" He defended for Yami and Lucia and Link just shared glances.

Yami grinned and winked at the boy subtly. Link rose to his feet immediately.

"Everything alright Pharaoh?" He asked. The Pharaoh nodded.

"Please. Thank you for your concern but we no longer have to discuss this anymore." He said, hoping they would all drop it. Just as that second, Jane joined them outside looking adorable as ever. She wore black tights under a goth red and black lolitta style dress with a long black winter coat over it and a snug beige scarf and matching mittens and leg warmers. She looked at the Pharaoh right away waiting for his usual wink, compliment or date invitation.

"Good morning." Was all he said. Jane nearly failed to hold back her smile, trying to keep the same pokerface as him.

"Morning." She replied, quickly walking into the field to join Lucia by her snowman and shield her expression.

"Jane... you're doing the extra cute again." Lucia said as she came closer.

Link and Duke looked at the Pharaoh who had a _sweatdrop_ over his head, completly aware of what they must be thinking. Link grunted.

"Alright, what happened last night?" He asked. The Pharaoh wasn't suprised to hear that question, in fact he was sure _everyone_ was wondering the same thing. Duke laughed.

"Don't you recognize the glow on their faces?" He said, "That's the fresh face of a man who just got laid."

Yami smirked and crossed his arms. Duke elbowed him in the arm lightly and Link winked.

"I guess maybe she _does_ have a thing for guys with make up, huh Pharaoh?" Link joked.

"That or it was the Pharaoh outfit that turned her on, huh Yami." Duke added.

"Pharaoh." He corrected again without looking at him.

"Is that what she yelled when you fu-"

"Duke, that is super disrespectful and none of our business!" Link intterupted.

Yami shook his head. "It's alright Link. Nothing occured, at least not what he's suggesting."

Duke laughed as he was only messing around. But the Pharoah _did_ wink at him before, so _something_ went on or he wouldn't be so shiny right now...and starring at Jane by the snow.

Duke waved his hand in front of Yami and he chuckled when he realized himself that he was watching. He stretched a bit just by pushing his elbows and shoulders back and sighed.

"Alright, I better head to town, there's something I need to start thinking about." He said, walking back inside. Duke raised a brow.

"Devlin!" Joey called, laughing mythodically. "Muahah! I am ready, peasant!"

Duke laughed and jogged back to his fort. "Prepare for some life threatening frost bites, Joseph. You'll be bathing in hot water for weeks!"

"Are you saying that I have a _bo_ problem?" Joey asked.

Duke _face-palmed_ , as did Jane, Lucia and Junior who heard this.

"Actually I wasn't," Duke rolled his eyes, "...but if the shoe fits..."

"What are ya, _Cinderella_ now? Stop talkin' crazy _dice boy_!" Joey yelled from his fort.

"Amazing that he's such a skilled duelist." Lucia blinked. Jane and Yugi laughed.

"He could be incredibly lucky, maybe?" Yugi tried.

"Maybe he's so smart and uses reverse psychology to confuse his aponents in battle." Jane theorized.

"I think he's just dumb." Junior said.

"It's no fun insulting you 'cause you're too stupid to get it!" Duke yelled back. Joey laughed sarcastically.

"Let's see if your tough talk matches your snowballin' skills!" He said, throwing one at Duke, thoroughly missing without Duke having to move from his spot in his fort.

Everyone witnessing laughed and Joey flinched, immediately ducking behind his short fort. Too short, in fact that his bright blue bottom was in perfect view.

Right away, two huge snow balls squashed Joey into the snow and Mai was there behind the fort with Duke who _high fived_ him for the perfect shot.

Lucia's draw dropped. "BUT HOW!?" She yelled. Mai had been hiding behind Duke's fort the entire time.

"A prepared war captain carries reinforcements!" Duke said. Mai then stuffed an oreo into her mouth and passed one to Duke.

"Of every kind!" She added laughing with her mouth full. Joey sprouted from the snow fast like a video on forward.

"Mai! You traita!" Joey complained, "I thought we had somethin' special!"

"Oh Joey, just because we're engaged doesn't mean I don't like destroying you anymore." She said.

"Grrr, you can't have Mai helping you! That's an unfair match!" He complained. Duke shook his head.

"Not really. Think of it as a three way duel and Mai and I happen to be using all our combos on you."

Jane laughed out loud. "He's not wrong!"

Joey growled. "Link! Help me out, would ya?" He asked before realizing through the sliding glass doors that Link was inside talking to the Pharaoh. "Nyah! Uh, Lucia, Yugi, come over here and bring your snow man!"

"What, why?" Lucia blinked as the snow balls from Duke and Mai started flushing at Joey's fort.

"TO THROW at them!" He yelled through the laughter. Lucia panicked but followed her gut instinct to crawl and join Joey behind his fort. Yugi didn't join, hoping to avoid the hectic scene and stayed with Jane.

"This is what you call a fort?" Lucia insulted. Duke laughed.

"I know it's a piece of shit, right? We can see his ass when he ducks." He said, Mai laughing along.

"That's a bad word, Duke." Junior comments.

"So is _bastard_ , but that just means your parents aren't married." Duke compared, throwing snow.

"So when you say _shit_ , you mean _poop_ , _right_ Duke?" Jane said sternly for Junior.

"No, _shit_ just means Joseph Wheeler."

"THAT'S IT!" Joey yelled.

"Oh _that_ one you got?" Duke yelled back. Mai _face-palmed_.

"Yeah! You're insultin' me using manure!" Joey complained.

"Yeah, I got that one from a friend of mine. Last name _Sherlock_ , first name _No Shit_!" He said.

At this point Jane was on the floor, holding her stomach together. "Duke, stop I – ahaha, I can't!"

Lucia blinked watching this. "Wow, he's destroying you with words alone."

Joey pulled his sleeves back despite the cold. "I'M SENDING YOU BACK TO THE DICE DUNGEON PAL!"

* *

"So what are you heading into town for?" Link asked. The Pharaoh stretched a bit to look over Link's shoulder, making sure the others were still outside. He gestured for him to follow deeper into the house and when they were by the fish tank, still in sight, Yami smiled.

"She's mine." He said confidently, hands in his pockets. Link blinked a few times. He wasn't sure if Yami knew how much he knew, and he didn't know how much Yami knew much at all _about_ what he knew. He sighed and decided to pretend he was in the same boat as he was before even moving to Savannah Georgia.

"You've said that before," Link said. "Is it finally happening?"

"Soon," Yami said with a hand to his chin, wondering how long he should wait before asking Jane if she's called things off with Yuu. He would also like to discuss a very important question he had in mind for her: _How far did they go?_ That he was curious. But there was something else on his mind entirely.

"I just have one thing in mind that's crucial." He added.

Link crossed his arms. "What's that?" Yami smiled.

"In just over a month," He started, "It's her birthday."

Link's eyes widened, remembering that the year before went by with no celebrations of any kind to honor one of their most valued friends. Diana. He grunted at this.

"That's right!" He said, "We can celebrate those now. Are you going to put some sort of surprise for her?"

The Pharaoh shook his head. He was acting on nothing but hope. Hope that she would resolve all things with Yuu by that time so that he _could_ do something for her on her special day. He was keeping the poker face on, but it was hard.

"I have no plans at the moment," He said, "but a walk on my own is well required. I have had a rather stressful last few days and her birthday is only going to build on that."

Link nodded. "I understand," he said, "You and me both."

"Hm?" The Pharaoh paused, "What's troubling you?"

Link didn't have to tell the Pharaoh that Diana was upsetting him. In fact, he was embarrassed to say that after all this time he _still_ thought about her! It angered him but he couldn't help it.

"I've been...getting these strange migraines lately." He explained, "Like it isn't pain. It feels...dark."

Yami arched his eyebrows. The shadows? He shook his head with doubt.

"You're likely still over tired," He explained. "Mentally. From...certain thoughts perhaps?"

Link didn't respond. He just starred at the ground. Yami strongly tapped Link's shoulder.

"It will pass." He said and Link sighed, beginning to whisper.

"You know I..." He said, "had a vivid dream about her before she...you know."

Yami listened and Link said this as quietly as he could. "..in it I...I was gunna marry her."

Yami shook his head, doubtfully. "Marriage is a promise of eternal love. As a man of honor, I can assure you that you cannot promise eternally what you've never felt momentarily."

"No, I know, it was just a dream after all." Link replied, "Though, I know it's crazy but, I always sort of hope that she'll...well...come back."

Yami's brows focused. "That is a speculation, Link." He said sternly, "That likely will not happen."

"Yeah," Link said in a breathy voice. "I know."

The Pharaoh felt sorry for the warrior, but he knew it would pass. He was surprised when the girl left as well, and it was the surprise that impacted everyone most. He could see that, for Link, it was the surprise as well as the confusion. He couldn't understand her while she was around and couldn't understand her decision to not be. The Pharaoh smiled reassuringly.

"Time cures all, my friend." He said, "Have courage."

Link smiled. "You know it."

"I am sure in a few more weeks, the topic will no longer interest you." He added.

"Maybe." He answered. Still. The headaches didn't feel like ordinary headaches to him...

"That's some Voodooo right there!" Joey yelled in the background.

"Was that a curve ball!? With Snow!?" Lucia complained with him.

Link and Yami exchanged glances with a smile. A smile of gratitude for their blessings with a life that's never boring.

"Joey...you're not going to make the snowballs harder by blowing on them..." Yugi said.

"Back off. I know what I'm doing."

 **A/N: A lonnngg but epic chapter, one of my favourites for reasons of YamixJane plus Duke vs Joey, I just like comedy! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I told ya things were getting worse!**


	5. Vol 1 Ch 4: Out The Window

_Savannah Georgia ~ ForWARd  
Volume 1 – Chapter 4:_ _"_ _Out The Window! Link's New Job."  
Kitchen~ Breakfast  
Everyone except Link, Lucia and Yugi.  
9:30 am  
Narrator's P.O.V_

 _"So, there's a rehearsal at 2, recording studio at 5, filming at 7 and...?" Mai reviewed her schedule for the upcoming week, in fact, everyone did. This was the last weekend before everyone gets back to the lives they had before the big move. Junior is starting at his new school, Mai is starting a part time schedule with managing the 6 Vocaloids, and the Pharaoh is working at the museum. The things that are different than before is that Jane has finished school, now working as a freelancer, and Yugi has decided to go back to Battle City more often to help Professor Hawkins and Rebecka in their research and possibly take on Duel Monsters as a profession. Link has finally landed a new job interview somewhere outside of the construction site and Lucia starts her private courses. It was going to become busy for the hero's of Savannah Georgia, so they planned to enjoy the weekend as much as they could._

"Wow, Joey. I have to say, I am impressed." Jane complimented as she leaned against the counter, spreading her toast. Everyone spread out in the kitchen, picking at the breakfast setup that Joey had presented for his turn. There were eggs, toast, bacon, sausages, baked goods, pancakes and hashbrowns all spread out for the taking of ones preference. It was evidant that Joey put it together since not a single piece of fruit was in sight.

"How many times do I gotta tell ya?" He answered, "Food is my specialty."

"Any _food specialist_ would see that this breakfast is tottally unhealthy," Duke critisized, "There isn't a single piece of fruit available and...bacon and sausages? Pork is the worst type of meat available to people, plus the poundcake? I mean you didn't even lay out yogurt or something."

"Urgh, you can't even let me enjoy the moment, can you!?" Joey whined.

"I think it's fine Joey," Yami added, "Considering the standards."

"Thanks Pharaoh!" He smiled. Duke laughed.

" _Standards_ , Joey. He wasn't complimenting you." He clarified. Joey fell _anime style_ and the others laughed.

"Yami, could you pass me a chocolate chip cookie?" Jane requested. Without looking at her, he grabbed the cookie and gestured it toward her. When she didn't take it, he looked at her, waiting. She leaned over and playfully took it with her mouth, keeping her eyes on him. She took a bite and chewed it slowly while she winked at the Pharaoh. _He sweat-dropped_. It's only been two days and he's already having difficulties holding himself back from her. Curse her for making it harder than it has to be.

"Please excuse me." Yami said, leaving the kitchen for a much needed shower to cool down.

"He's been excusing himself alot lately." Junior said randomly, shareing his toast with Gumball and Little Link. Mai looked at Joey and laughed.

"I bet he is." She said. Jane smiled.

"I'm gunna go to and get ready for our date," Jane said, pointing to Mai. "12. Don't forget."

Mai nodded as Jane left. Upstairs

"Junior are you in there?" Link asked on at the door to the girls room. He knocked several times, but Lucia wasn't answering. She couldn't hear him through the sounds of her shower. "Junior I saw you go in there, come out."

"No!" He refused. Unforunetly for Junior, it was time to trim his hair and he hated cutting his hair. The idea of sitting still for a whole hour or so and having someone else tickle his head as they cut his locks made him feel so uncomfertable. Link sighed and opened the door.

"Junior! Come on, I thought by now you'd be more mature. You're 10 years old!" He said, entering the artistic room and seeing a green shape run into the bathroom and closing the door. Gumball and Little Link were left behind, playing on Jane's fuzzy purple carpet. Link grunted in anger, looking at the time on the girls monitor. He walked into the hall of the girls washroom, his brown boots strutting on the tile floor where two pink sinks were cutely personalized and clearly labelled as one being Jane's and one being Lucia's. The sinks were near the walk in closet, a small stall with a toilet seat and a seperate room to the washroom where Lucia was showering. Clever for Junior to hide in there, knowing Link wouldn't come in after him. Link bravely knocked.

"Lucia? You in there?" Link called.

"Yeah?" She said back through the running water. Link sighed, putting his hands on his waist.

"Junior's hiding in there," He said with a growl, "Could you bring him out?"

"What?" Lucia couldn't hear very well, unlike the hylian himself. He could hear every movement she made in there, even movements as small as grabbing a shampoo bottle.

"Junior's in there!" He said louder.

"It's ok!" Lucia answered and Link rolled his eyes. Explaining to her was too much trouble. He heard Lucia pop open a bottle and figured she wasn't coming out soon. He decided to let himself in. What can it hurt, she would be shielded by the curtain anyway.

He opened the door slightly, first seeing a basket of laundry and a vanity set with girly products. Then he began to look for something green until he was completely caught off guard.

There was no curtain. The only thing shielding Lucia was a slightly blurred sliding glass and he could see more than just her sillhouette. He became flustered over the view of her smooth back that curved to her wide hips, a trait admired in his world for child bearing, and her wet, soapy hair. It wasn't a sight he'd complain about. He starred for a few moments when he realized that she hadn't heard him come in. His gaze was interrupted by a familiar giggle of an annoying little brother.

"Hehe," he laughed quietly from beneath a towel, "you should see you're face. You're as red as a 20pound rupee." Link growled without saying anything. He grabbed Junior by the back of his shirt and tossed him out the door, rolling him across the hall and into the walk in closet. Link's ears picked up Lucia turning around, and Link sprinted out of there as fast as he could, shutting the door. Lucia heard this and when she saw that Junior was gone, she assumed it was the little guy leaving. Link's heart was pounding like crazy. Not because he was tired from that short run, but because of the anxiety that he was under. What would have happened if Lucia saw him in there?

"You get sooooo lame when it comes to girls!" Junior teased. "Is it because you saw her butt?"

Link's eyebrows arched and his expression became an angry blush. "JUNIOR! You're dead meat!"

Junior snapped a picture and ran out of the room as fast as he could, just barely dodging the Pharaoh in a 360 in the hall before sliding down the railing to the first floor. Yami blinked twice when Link came out of the girls room, completely out of breath.

" _You're_ tired?" The Pharaoh said, "That's a suprise."

Link rubbed his head. "No, more like stunned."

"What's the matter?"

Link cracked his knuckles.

"Tell you later," He said, marching toward the stairs, "I have to catch myself a little Ganon."

Yami chuckled.

Later

"Well, the girls are leaving soon." Mai said, entering the master bedroom to join the Pharaoh. The door was half open and Joey went home for the afternoon with Yugi.

"Link is in their washroom giving Junior a haircut, so they're both screaming in there. Link acts more than just his older brother...I'm not in a hurry to be a mother."

Yami was sitting on his one seater couch staring at the calendar pinned to the wall near his mirror. The Egyptian male had his knees spread, his elbows on his legs and one hand clasped over the other into a fist. His hands were covering his mouth as he stared at the calendar with hard dark purple eyes. He was in his usual skin tight pants with a towel draped over his shoulders from his shower, topless. His eyes remained on the calendar but his lips moved, "Good afternoon."

"Afternoon, hun."

"Is there something you need?" he wondered and Mai shrugged.

"No, just thinking about wedding plans," she explained. "Is it the calender you're starring at or the mirror? Either way, cute it out. The days wont go by any faster and, believe me, time wont make you any better looking."

Yami smiled slightly.

"I know," He said as he shifted from his position. He moved slowly and stiffly, as if he had been in that same position for hours. "Actually, if it were up to me, I'd like to slow them down."

"Why?" Mai peeled back a banana she had brought from downstairs.

He was silent for some time, avoiding a response and continued to just stare at the calendar as he rested his hands on his knees.

"Jane's birthday is fast approaching," he said in his usual deep voice then turned to see Mai still standing where he had been before and he nodded to confirm the olders' statement. Yami closed his eyes and sighed as he stood up, pulled the towel down from his torso, and tossing it onto the bed. He brought his hand to his chin and wondered if it was better to be prepared for the occasion just incase her breakup with Yuu would be dealt with before then. The question is, how would he prepare? "Mai, I think I am in need of your assistance," he stated firmly.

"With what?" She wondered, a little confused on what the possible 'King of Games' could want her help for. The Pharaoh put his hands in his pocket and faced the woman.

"I need to have something prepared for Jane's birthday however, I am not exactly in the position to casually discuss it with her." Yami explained.

"Just take care of her sexual needs, darlin' and you're in," she said in an obvious matter, crossing her arms across her chest and looked up at the older male. His face remained the same as if what Mai had just said didn't even  
faze him.

"Naturally." Yami smiled jokingly, "It has to be special. Twenty-one is a big age however, it cannot be _too_ special just in case she doesn't-" he watched as Mai take a mouthful of her banana.

"Doesn't what?" Mai asked. The Pharaoh sighed.

"Nothing, it's just incase." He answered.

Mai raised a brow knowing the Pharaoh had secrets but decided not to intrude.

"So then how does this involve me?" Asked the blond as her eyes flickered away from the fruit.

"Take the girld out and let me know what she wants that she doesn't already have," he said and Mai rolled her eyes, her shoulders instantly dropping.

"Why can't you just take her out on another day? She's _your_ girlfriend," she protested and Yami smiled a bit at the thought, even though it wasn't true.

"Because I have business in battle city this afternoon," Yami started but when Mai didn't seem convinced.

"Just get her what you feel is right, Pharaoh.." Mai suggested.

"Given the circumstances, this is the best I can do. Please, Mai. As a favour."

"Why don't you just take her on a shopping date and take note of things she has her eyes on?" She asked as he chewed. How could the Pharaoh explain to her that it was because he was holding back from her until this whole Yuu mess was resolved? He couldn't take her out, especially lately with her provacative responses to drive him mad. No, until Yuu was out of the picture. No dates.

"Because when it's her actual birthday I'll have nothing," He lied.

"Alright," Mai finally caved, finishing the fruit, tossing it to Yami's little trash. "But you so owe me, hun."

Yami smiled but wasn't given the chance to reply as he heard commotion in the hall, figuring it was the girls heading out. He grabbed his jacket that hung on the back rest of the couch, putting it on and doing it up to cover his bare chest and began walking to the door. He escourted Mai out into the hall just as the girls came out of their room, Jane staring at his perfect form as he disappeared behind his large door.

"What's his hurry?" she asked, looking to Lucia who shrugged and followed Mai downstairs and into the kitchen.

"So Mai, what were you doing coming out of the Pharoah's room like that?" Jane asked as she walked to the fridge to grab a water bottle for the trip.

"Talking to the King," she answered, "Are you jealous?"

"Oh boy," Jane giggled a bit. "Should I be?" "So," Lucia piped up to continue the conversation. "What were you two talking about?" She wondered, feeling Little Link at her feet and picking up the happy puppy.

"Oh, just sharing ideas."

"...So, exactly what 'ideas' were you sharing?" Jane wanted to know as her brows furrowed. Mai placed her fingertips on her bottom lip lightly in thought. The girls rolled their eyes as Jane chugged her water in nervousness. Mai smirked.

"Y'know, typical mature things like who would be the best sexual performer," she leaned forward and Jane spat out her water.

"W-What?" she stuttered out, grabbing a paper towel and Mai smirked. "You and _Yami_ were talking about this?"

"You heard me," she went on and looked to Lucia who was as red as a tomato. Already? Damn that girl was easy to embarrass.

"Y-You're joking right?" Lucia asked quietly barely able to find her voice. Mai laughed, where's Junior's camera when you need it?

"Of course, I'm joking, ladies! The Pharaoh is way too much of a prude to share those details." Mai walked over to the kitchen table and sat down on one of the chairs.

"No but...I don't know...with you, I believe anything," Jane said with a huff, cleaning up the counter from the water she had spilled from her mouth.

Mai giggled at that then heard a loud shriek and then a pig run downstairs followed by Junior who was, not only laughing but, sporting a haircut that seemed uneven, unfinished.

"What happened?" Lucia wondered as Junior picked up Gumball, still laughing.

"Gumball pulled on the shower curtain to fall over Link and I had the chance to run! H-he was flustered from a memory and he fell into the tub!" Junior said between his fits of laughter.

"What memory?" Jane wondered and Junior laughed more, not answering.

"He saw Lucia in the shower this morning," He said. Everyone gasped.

"What!?" Lucia said, covering her face in embarrasment. "No he didn't! How!?"

"I took a picture at the scene! Wanna see?" Junior pulled out his camera from his little satchel that matched his older brother's. The girls both waved their hands in front of them.

"I think we've had enough embarrassment for the day Junior," Jane said.

"Unless it's something I can black mail with, I ain't interested," Mai added and Junior huffed. Boring adults. They probably thought the picture was worse than it was. He turned just as Link and Duke came downstairs.

"Link!" Junior flagged him the photo. "Lucia knows you saw her naked."

"H-!"" Link and Lucia both flinched.

"T-T-That's impossible! I haven't spoken to Lucia at all today!" He lied.

"The camera never lies, big bro!" Junior faught back. "That's what happenes when you force me to cut my hair!"

Link bent over so that his face was inches from Junior's.

"Camera!? It's just a stupid photo of my angry face, Junior! Now get back upstairs, we aren't finished!"

"It's not your angry face! It's your _flustered_ face seconds after seeing Lucia's butt!" He yelled back and then slide behind Lucia as a shield, knowing Link would stay away from the embarrassment. Link grunted.

"You're such a pain!" He complained.

Duke blinked twice at the redness that was Lucia's face.

"What did Mai say?" He asked and the blond woman snorted.

"Why are you just automatically assuming it was me?"

" _Because_ you're like me," Duke laughed. "We love pushing boundries."

"What are you girls up to today?" Link asked after seeing the photo that Junior had taken and blushing.

"It's our girl shopping day, remember?" Jane tilted her head a bit and Mai smiled, resting her hand on her cheek.

"Can I come?" Junior asked.

"Yes. Take Junior," Link suggested. "Please. Save me the headache."

"Sorry Junior, but it's a _girls_ shopping day. No boys," Jane continued.

"Oh well, then, Link can join you," Junior said and Link glared a bit.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked. Duke smirked.

"Don't you count? You dress up as a girl sometimes,"

"Does that work," Jane blinked, "Link seems much too buff to pass."

"Maybe it was an experimental duing his pubecent years." Lucia added.

"You aren't helping!" Link snapped back at the girls.

"No boys," Jane repeated, confidently crossing her arms as that was her final decision. "A hang out between some girls and her besties is well needed for me..."  
Jane thought, being around guys all the time gace her anxiety now and then, especially trying to keep herself looking cute regularily to fit in with them. "You know, you guys could always have a _boys only_ hang out. Joey is always complaining about never having one,"

"Can't," Link started. "I have a job interview in about," he looked at the clock. "Two hours so its breakfast and then I'm out the door,"

Jane blinked. "And you, Duke?"

"Who's left?," he answered. "Everyone's got plans so that isn't much of a _hang out_. I'll probably run back to Domino."

"Well, Yugi should be coming home with Joey this afternoon if you get lonely." Jane added.

"Don't insult me." Duke said with heavy brows. Later

Savannah Georgia Shopping Mall _  
Mai and Lucia waiting for Jane to return from buying ice cream._

"So let me get this straight," Lucia said as she and Mai watched Jane. "We're supposed to follow her around and see what Jane likes for Yami to buy for her birthday? Why don't we just flat out ask her?" she raised an eyebrow.

"That's what I suggested, but that's not what he wanted," Mai said, peering past the corner with her friend. Both girls looked fairly fashionable, one would assume they picked out similiar boots inentionally.

"Keeping quiet seems unlike you, Mai." Lucia added.

"I promised the Pharaoh, and besides," she went into fanci purple purse and pulled out a shiny gold card. "Lunch and dinner is on him!"

"Is that his credit card!?" Lucia asked with a gasp. "Mai!"

"Relax, hun," she slipped it back into her bag. "He saw me pick up his wallet and take the credit card right out and he didn't say a thing. If that aint permission, I don't know what is,"

Lucia blinked suprised.

"Well fine, but if he goes on a rampage it's all on you. I'll deny that I knew anything about this." She said, peering over the corner again to see Jane walking back with a giant waffle cone.

"I suppose it won't be weird if we ask what she wants from us, though right?" Lucia thought. Mai winked.

"So any idea what you want to do for your birthday, Jane?" Rai asked as they walked down the hallway of the mall. Jane shook her head and sighed, adjusting her purse on her shoulder.

"Not really..." she admitted a little sheepishly. She almost never did anyting special on her birthday. Back in the day, she'd get together with her friends but now she's with them everyday.  
"I'm probably going to go back home to see my parents."

"Really? I was sure you'd suggest to spend the day with Yami or invite everyone over from Domino City." Lucia commented, adjusting her glasses.

"Yeah and I'm sure if you split it, one side will distract you and you'll forget about the second half," Mai added, mostly thinking to herself as she looked to the window of one of the stores they passed by.

"Yeah, I guess it would be a bit awkward if Yami and I dissapeared for a while, huh?" Jane winked.

"Nah, Lucia flicked her wrist. "You need some alone time with him most definitely!"

"As if she doesn't already get enough of that alone time," Mai smirked, crossing her arms across her chest.

Jane sighed. "Actually, lately, not at all. Since he found out about Yuu he's been holding back and acting like nothing more than my roomate, it's tottally annoying."

Lucia chuckled. "We've noticed. You guys scream _tention_ like nobodies business."

Jane grinned sadly, "Yeah, well it can't be helped."

"Even so," Mai added, "The couply vibes are still there and I've personally had enough." She said, still with her arms crossed. Jane and Lucia blinked twice.

"Are you jealous?" Lucia wondered, wanting to push her friends' buttons as she chuckled.

"Of course not why would I be? I don't have anything going on with the King of Egypt," She watched as Lucia and Jane looked at each other.

"Maybe not into Yami but perhaps you'd like that same alone time with someone else perhaps? A certain popstar we all know?" Jane said with flirty eyes.

"KAITO~" Lucia sang and Mai raised an eyebrow, pushing her tongue into her cheek.

"Alone time? In what sense?" She wondered and Jane giggled.

"Oh, you know what sense," She continued on and Mai rolled her blue eyes, pointing to a Hot Topic nearby.

"While you two switch from fantasy to reality I'm going to pop in there," Mai claimed, walking into the Hot Topic. Jane and Lucia laughed before following her into the pop culture store, immediately Lucia's eyes lit up and she ran towards a Link hoodie.

"Well," Jane laughed a bit.

"She's eyeing Sailor Moon," Lucia Whispered to Mai, casually walking out of the store to talk without Jane's hearing. "But it's not a gift plan for someone like Yami."

"Does it really appear as though I'm interesting in KAITO?" Mai blinked. "Because, I'm not!"

Lucia laughed, "No, we're joking. It's just that you and KAITO are working together and you're both sooooooo good looking haha."

Mai opened one eye. "Oh, I can recall you wanted me to introduce you. I almost forgot."

Mai instantly pulled out her cell and began typing. Lucia waved her arms uncontrollably.

"What are you doing!?" She panicked. Mai ignored her as Jane emerged back into the halls of the mall.

"Oh, hello!" Jane looked at the huge sign that said _SALE_. "Now that I think about it, I am lacking in sexy lingerie, guys."

"For what? You have blenty of bras and undies." Lucia commented.

"I don't need anything _casual_... I want something sexy, you know, like an _inviting_ combo." Jane winked, again, only Mai picking up the hint.

"Say no more, hun. To woo the Pharaoh?"

"Didn't you say that he's staying clear from you right now?" Lucia asked.

"For now! And if things advance with him, who says I shouldn't be prepared just incase?!" Jane pretended to worry with her hands on her cheeks. "The Pharaoh's a God to compete with, I have to measure up to his might!"

Lucia blushed. " _If things advance?_ What the hell happened that night at the Museum?!"

Jane blinked as her smile vanished when she realized she spoke to much. "Nothing."

Mai laughed. "Sure. We believe nothing happened." She said sarcastically.

"Why don't you wear whatever you wore for Yuu during those moments?" Lucia asked.

"They aren't cute enough and besides, it would feel wrong wearing the same thing if you know what I mean... *gasp-" Jane paused, "Now that I think about it, I should replace all my lingerie!"

The girls _sweat-dropped_ and blushed.

" _All of it?_ You promiscuous beast!" Mai said and Jane laughed.

"All right! I've already convinced myself." Jane said, letting herself into the store. Mai looked at Lucia again with a grin. "Well that will catch Yami's attention alright..." Lucia said uncomfortably at the bra Jane examined.

"Just merge it with a wet shirt and it's like you're wearing practically nothing," Mai laughed, looking around at all the pink and white hearts thanks to Valentine's Day coming up.

Jane looked at the bra again. "Yeah, it shouts desperate, doesn't it?" She continued to look around as Mai poked a heart shaped balloon.

"I wonder if Joseph will want to celebrate Valentine's Day over our wedding plans. What are you girls doing?" She wondered. Jane sighed.

"Uhh well… Yami asked my out for the day but, that was before he knew about Yuu," Jane nervously admitted, poking at her teeth with the nail of her index finger. "I bet his plans have changed since."

"He did!?" Lucia and Mai asked at the same time.

"And you didn't tell us?" Lucia continued with shock.

"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I wasn't even sure I was going to accept his invitation. I wasn't really planning to end things with Yuu at the time." Jane paused, sighing as she thought about answering for everyone else to Mai's questions. "I know Yugi is taking Rebecka out, Joey I'm sure made plans and...Link will be having one-on-one time with his master sword I'm sure,"

"JANE!" Lucia went red again and closed her eyes.

Jane smirked at her success in changing the mood so suddenly while Mai was laughing at the later part of her sentence, to the point where she had to rest her hands on her knees from laughing so hard, tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Beautiful," She laughed, straightening up and accidentally hitting someone walking by. "Sorry," She apologized but the girl didn't seem to notice. Jane soon enough started laughing by Mai's fits of laughter.

"Probably," Jane said, going back to looking at the bras for anything that looked interesting.

"So then," Mai started after finally settling down, unzipping her top now feeling hot from laughing so hard.

"You should do something with Link so he's not with his sword all day," she said, pretending to look at the bras so she wouldn't be kicked out.

"He wouldn't want to. He'll probably spend it like any other day. I don't think they have Valentine's Day in Hyrule," Lucia said as Jane pulled out a black lacy bra.

"I'm going to try this one," she said, adding it to her basket.

Mai crossed one leg over the other, fixing the high boot of her outfit while Lucia continued to browse.

"Oh!" She suddenly turned to see someone she had been messaging earlier. "KAITO!" She asked, narrowing her eyes just slightly. The blue haired, blue eyed male waved slightly before resting his hand on his hips. Beside him was an older female, short brown hair and brown eyes. "You rang? What's goin' on?"

After trying on a bunch of stuff, Jane found a few she liked and was in the process of payment with the cashier.

"Did you find the perfect set?" Lucia teased. Jane sighed.

"It better be perfect for what I'm paying for it..." She paused.

"How would you like to pay?" Asked the cashier and Jane went into her purse to pull out her debit card.

"So," she started with a happy sigh. "Let's go and eat already. I've waited long enough."

When Lucia and Jane returned to Mai, they caught her talking to a man. It was KAITO. Kaito was in a black slick outfit. Straight black pants and a black collared shirt, part of his chest exposed with a black choker.

"His _Guilty Module_ …" Lucia said quietly, going red again from seeing him, trying to shield her face.

"Damn," Jane said.

"Lucia, this is my co-worker, Kaito." Mai winked.

"Yeah," Lucia finally snapped out of it and tried her damn hardest not to stare at the blue haired's exposed chest. "I mean, nice to meet you."

Kaito smiled at Lucia then turned to Mai. "So why'd you make me meet you in a place like this?"

"To make you uncomfortable, why else?" Mai said as a matter-of-factly.

Lucia picked up Mai's phone when it vibrated against the table and answered the text for her as the blond was buying some smoothies while waiting for the Pharaoh to meet them at the mall. They could've talked back at the house but he refused, not wanting the off chance that Jane might overhear them talking about her birthday present. At least at the mall if the girls were still there, they'd be harder to find and with it being louder it'd be harder to hear. Lucia looked up from her friend's phone just as strong hands went on the edge of the empty chair and she smiled slightly at the king. Part of his outfit wasn't fully straight indicating he had changed quickly at work then perhaps ran out the door. Desperate, wasn't he?

"Good evening, Lucia," He said with a smile, always being respectful to woman but he especially liked Lucia. Since he first met her, she was always respectful, well mannered and a pleasure to have around.

"Sorry, Pharaoh. Did we interrupt you at work?" She asked as he sat scanned the area, making sure it lacked Jane.

"Not at all, I was just running late." He explained as he was now straightening up his wardrobe. He waited a few seconds until with a roll of her eyes, she motioned to the chair for him to sit as the other unoccupied one had Mai's jacket hanging over the back. He sat down as soon as Mai came over with three smoothies.

"I didn't know exactly what you liked, hun," Mai said as she pushed one towards the taller male. "So I guessed." He then handed Lucia an orange one, and sat down with a pink one in her hands.

"Pharaoh," Yami corrected in his deep voice, "Thank You." He examined the drink before taking a sip in courtsey to Mai.

"Now then," He began, "Have you managed to discover anything for me?" Yami grabbed the bottom of his chair to bring it in closer.

"We watched her buy a scandalous uniform," Snorted Mai as she took a sip of her smoothie and Lucia laughed a bit.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Asked Yami as he blinked his purple eyes. His gaze flickered between the lovely ladies obviously wanting more explained.

"Sorry, hun!" Mai giggled a bit. "Can't tell you, it's a surprise." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough..." She paused as Yami raised one eyebrow, "...in bed."

" _What?_ " Yami's eye's widened as he shifted back at that against the very back of the chair. "What in the world are you suggesting?" He turned his head to Lucia who just shrugged.

"Hey, I didn't go in there so I don't know. And let me just say, best decision we ever made." She included, taking another sip of her drink which only made the older man ask himself more questions about Jane that he hadn't had before. Yami placed his hands together on the table and closed his eyes. _In bed._ Surely, they couldn't be telling him that Jane had said or done something to suggest going to those extremes. At least not so soon...would she?

"I see. Did you manage to learn what she wants for her birthday?" he asked.

"Right, and Lucia has a list," Mai said and Lucia pulled out her own phone after giving back Mai's and pulled out her notes then handed Yami the phone for him to go over the list. He was quiet.

"This is a long list," Yami commented.

"A girl's gotta be pampered," Teased Mai as she leaned back, crossing her arms. Yami's eyes scanned the list, noticing that all of these materialistic options were things she could buy any day of the year. Because their living status was so high, there wasn't anything on the list that the others couldn't get for her. There was nothing on the list that she didn't already have or could buy for herself. He sighed. He was going to have to get creative if he truley wanted her to remember his gift.

"What will you be getting for her?" Yami asked.

"Not quite sure, I haven't put much thought into that quite yet," Mai said.

"Well, thanks to Lucia, you now have plenty of options," Yami said with a smile, returning Lucia's cell.

"Oh, speaking of, Pharaoh," Lucia interrupted, "Jane mentioned that she's planning on going home for her birthday to visit her parents? I don't know if that means anything."

"Her parents?" Yami's eyes widened. Of course. The only thing she doesn't have in her life is her mom and dad. The people she loves most in this world for certain. Yami smiled at the realization as he just discovered the perfect gift; A trip to visit her parents and joining her there to formally introduce himself to the couple who raised the woman he loves. And to make a stop on the way, this would put an end to the Yuu story once and for all. The Pharaoh put his hand on Lucia's in appreciation.

"That is incredibly valuable information. Thank you." He said happily, turning to look at Mai. "I will not soon forget what you two have done for me today."

Mai slurped the end of her smoothie, "That's great, hun. Good for you."

Yami closed his eyes. "Pharaoh," He corrected, bringing his hands to the table and gesturing a palm to Mai.

"Now, about my credit card…" He began.

Mai stopped slurping and laughed nervously.

That Late Evening

 _7:00 pm_  
Lobby of the house by the stair case.  
 _Yami, Jane, and Joey._ _Others doing their own thing throughout the home._

"So you're picking up Link from work, huh? Can I come along?" Joey asked in his usual accent when he noticed the Pharaoh at the door sliding on his black boots.

"I don't think so, Joey. Link requested that I arrive on my own." Yami answered putting on his jacket. Jane heard this as she was sitting on the staircase with Luna watching him leave.

"Yami, we needed to stop by the drug store on the way down though, did you forget?" Jane reminded him. Yami stopped as he grabbed the doorknob, remembering that he did have to pick up a few things. Some items specifically for the girls and he would need Jane to be there to grab them.

"Hm." He was sure that Link wouldn't mind if Jane came along as well. "Alright, come along then."

Jane hopped up and grabbed her long coat from the hook as well and looked at Joey. "Sorry Joey, it's going to be just the Pharaoh and I together. You'd be a third wheel." She said with dally. The Pharaoh blinked twice, nearly forgetting that he refused to be alone with her in courtesy to Yuu. He smiled at the blond duelist.

"Ah, but surely Joey would like to see where Link is working after all. Of course you can join us." Yami decided.

"Aw, sweet!" Joey put on his sneakers excitedly. Jane's eyebrows became heavy.

In the car, the Pharaoh drove with the window half open in what appeared a comfortable position despite his true discomfort. He couldn't refuse a lady to court the passanger seat and she made it difficult for him by sitting with one leg over another, showing more than a bit of skin under the same dress she worse the night he gave her the key. It was making him uncomfortable and wondered if she was doing it intentionally to drive him mad. Probably not, it wasn't like she had to try.

They were close to their destination, having Joey sing along to Vocaloid hits on the radio and the two upfront remained silent. Jane's phone began to go off, and curiously the Pharaoh looked from the corner of his eye to see that the incoming texts were from Yuu himself. The Pharaoh inhaled deeply, constantly telling himself that it would be over soon. Despite calming himself though, he couldn't help but peak at her phone again when she opened the messages.

 _Jane, come home._

 _I miss you so much. What are you doing? Hearts..hearts... hearts.._

Yami's eyebrows twitched and he held his breath to control his building anger. He felt weird considering he can't be mad at this man because he didn't do anything wrong. He was just so incredibly jelous of him that it made him start to dislike him. However, he's discussed this with Jane already. He was sure that she would either ignore his message or reply with the truth. He turned the wheel, half focused on her phone, watching her reply.

"That good-looking thing that seems to be unrelated to depravity is actually full of additives.~" Joey sang happily as he looked out the window and noticing the roads pulling into a farm of some sort.

As the road got bumpier, Yami looked again and saw Jane send; _I miss you too!_

His eyes shot open and without saying a word, he roughly grabbed her cell and threw it out his window! Feeling satisfied as he heard the little device shatter into pieces in the distance behind them. Joey saw this and immediately shut his mouth from the singing, completely shocked as well. Jane looked at her empty hands, stunned before turning to the Pharaoh.

"...WHAT THE HELL!?" She yelled wondering what the hell brought that on. The Pharaoh didn't answer her. He was too focused on the regret he felt for giving into his jealousy. Though, he would never admit it.

"Yami!" Jane said again, "What gives you the right to throw my phone OUT THE CAR WINDOW!?"

"I pay for that phone. I have the right to destroy it if I so choose." He answered. Jane's eyes widened.

"What!?" She said in a _wtf_ tone. The only reason the Pharaoh took over payments on her phone was because moving to Savannah Georgia caused her to lose her job at the aquarium back home. "You offered to pay for it so I can move with you to Savannah Georgia! I didn't think that it meant you can dictate what I do with it!"

"Well, that goes without saying. I wont take fault if you assumed that the decisions would be yours to make." He answered coldly. Jane's jaw dropped.

Joey held his knees against his chest, completely afraid to make a sound and summon the Pharaoh's wrath. Jane was so lucky that he loved her because she really pushes her luck with him.

"Well I hope you're happy with your decision, then. I don't have a phone to use." Jane said, crossing her arms and sinking into her chair. The Pharaoh did feel bad about that but his disappointment in her was stronger than his pitty.

Just then they arrived at a horse stable. The fields were cleared since it was dark and only the light from the barns lit the roads. When Yami shifted gears into _park_ , no one moved a muscle. Jane's attitude surfaced.

"I would _text_ Link to let him know that we're here but I don't have a cell phone." She mocked. The Pharaoh ignored her and stayed silent and Joey kept his mouth shut in fear. Jane tried again.

"Will you message him, or should I go inside and get him?" She asked, looking at Joey who was wide eyed and quiet, then at the Pharaoh.

"I'll wait here." Yami said without a word, wanted her to just get out of his sight for a few minutes. Jane groaned.

"Urgh! Fine! I'll go get him." She said, roughly opening the door and shutting it with force behind her. As she walked away, Yami turned to look at Joey who pretended to be asleep. The king _sweat-dropped_.

"Yami can really surprise me sometimes." Jane complained to herself as she opened the wooden door to the largest barn. Inside, the space was huge. She saw some horses in their stations, and some walking around with very few riders watching them. She flinched at a horse who got close and slowly pet its cheek before noticing Link near the back talking to a rider. He was wearing his postman outfit without a shirt or his hat and he was sweating like he came from a serious work out. Jane blinked twice. _Oh boy. Why me..._ She thought with a blush as she slowly walked to the attractive built Hylian. As she got closer, she listened to the end of their conversation.

"Actually, a horse can exceed the life span of 25 years, it's just hard in this world because of the unatural and processed food supply that we feed them." Link explained and the other rider laughed. Jane smiled, The rider was sort of a hottie too.

"Yes, yes of course. You'll make a great teacher, Link." He said, "What was your horse's name again?"

"..Epona." Link said, missing his home.

"Right. What a unique name. Well, I hope old Emmett here will warm up to you as much as your gal at home will." He said, tapping the side of really tall black horse. "He's the fiercest stallion we've ever had. I'm sure you're the rider for him."

They shook hands just as Link noticed Jane standing nearby. He quickly grabbed one of the jackets hanging over the wooden rail that the riders used and put it on quickly without zipping up. Jane _sweatdropped_ as that only made him look sexier.

"Uh, Jane?!" Link said surprised, "What – I thought the Pharaoh was going to be the one to -"

Jane smiled. "Yeah, he's outside in the car with Joey." She explained. "Ready to go home?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah sorry I'm sort of um -" awkward pause, "Let me just change quickly. Give me a few minutes."

Link turned to the rider shaking his hand again, "Thanks so much, Ash. I'll start Monday right away."

As Link jogged off to a change room, Jane pulled out her lip balm and applied it as Ash chuckled.

"Your boyfriend is an amazing rider," He said. Jane immediately lost grip on her lip balm, trying to catch it but missing and it hit the floor. She picked it up and collected herself.

"Link is not my boyfriend," She clarified, brushing off the hey from her stick. Although she wouldn't mind it. She put her finger to her chin, remembering how much she used to fangirl over him. She had forced herself to stop thinking about him that way a long time ago, but now that Ash mentioned it, she'll always have a little crush on Link. Then she smiled to herself. _Sigh, the life of a fangirl._ She thought. _God help us._

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed-" Ash started.

"It's ok, don't worry about it. Link's just one of my best friends is all." Jane said, with her hands behind her.

"Oh sweet," Ash said and when Jane's eyebrows rose, he corrected, "I mean, that's cool. So you'll probably be coming around often to visit him?"

Jane wasn't dense. She grinned, flattered. "Not really, today is a special case."

"Oh." Ash said, dissapointed. Jane raised a brow, noticing his name tag.

"How old are you, anyway? You look a little young to be a horse trainer." She asked. Ash smiled.

"I'm 22. Technically that is young to qualify as a trainer, but I was riding since I was 6 so I've got enough experience." He explained. "Like your friend. He wouldn't be training here so quick if he wasn't such a gifted rider."

Jane nodded. "Ah." Ash starred at her as Link returned, back in his Hero Attire.

"Alright, let's head out." He said, picking up a back pack he had brought and swinging it over his shoulder.

"Yep. Bye, Ash. Nice meeting you." Jane waved until Ash stopped them.

"Uh, wait! Jane if you...ever want a lesson, you're more than welcome to come by. Free of charge." He offered. Both Jane and Link blinked twice.

" _Free of charge_?" Link commented, "Ash, take it easy, heh. Anyway, if she wants a lesson, I'll just teach her myself."

Ash laughed nervously. "Alright, but you want to give me your number just in case? I can call you next time we have an available horse for beginers?"

Link raised a brow. Was Ash really trying to pick Jane up? Jane rolled her eyes.

"Sure, I'd love to, except someone sort of threw my phone out the window tonight and completly smashed it up..." Jane said, crossing her arms.

"Really? Who?" Link asked surprised, blinking twice. Jane closed her eyes, anger resurfacing.

"A total JERK!" She complained, walking out of the stable. Link _sweatdropped_.

"Did she just make that up to avoid me?" Ash questioned and Link blinked in thought. _Huh, maybe she did._

"Ash." Link said, shaking his head. "She's not for you. Don't waste your breath."

"I wasn't going for her, she's just cute." Ash smiled and Link laughed, remembering every last detail about Jane with her troubles with Yuu and the Pharaoh.

"No seriously though. Trust me. Don't even get yourself mixed up with her. She's nuts." He said. Ash blinked as he watched Link leave the stable.

Front Door to the House

"Uh, guys?" Link stopped the Pharaoh, Jane and Joey from reaching the door. The entire ride home was quiet and Link felt all the tention so he was afraid to bring this up but he had to.

"Yes, Link?" The Pharaoh said. The first thing he said all night to him.

"Could you guys keep my job at the stable a secret?" Link asked. "Joey, I know that's hard for you but just do your best to keep it to yourself. It's hard to explain but there's somethings I'm trying to figure out and-"

"You don't have to explain yourself, Link." Yami interrupted. "If you want us to stay silent about this, we will."

Link smiled. "Thanks guys."

"Nyeh, that's askin' a bit much from Joey Wheeler, but I'll do my best, buddy." Joey tried, feeling more comfertable to speak now that he was on feet.

When the Pharaoh opened the door to the house, Jane stomped straight upstairs with attitude, followed by a happy meowing Luna with mommy's return. Everyone in the loung blinked twice at the scene and the Pharaoh _sweatdropped_ in response.

Girls Room  
 _10:30_  
 _Lucia, Mai and Jane_

 __"He just threw it out the window!?" Lucia asked surprised. "Damn, what did you do?"

"Nothing! I don't get it!" Jane complained, "And they say girls are moody!"

"Were you texting Yuu?" Mai said bluntly, sitting on the wheely chair at the drawing table. The girls blinked twice.

"...I was.." Jane said, clenching at the pillows from the crevasse in the air. "Shit, is that why?"

Mai laughed. "Obviously! You've been lovey dovey since the Museum where _nothing_ happened, so if he got mad so suddenly, of course it's because of Yuu. When does the Pharaoh ever get mad at you for anything else?"

Jane remembered her reply to Yuu and slapped her palm against her forehead. "OF COURSE! He must have been watching us text and got tottally jelous!"

"But to break your phone?" Lucia asked, "Man, I didn't think the Pharaoh would lose his cool like that."

"Oh _love_. Makes people do crazy things." Mai shook her head and Jane leaned back against the wall, hitting her head against it, misjudging the distance. As she groaned from the pain, tiny dust particals fell on her nose.

"It's sweet though! Maybe you should go apologize to him. He's probably hurt." Lucia suggested, nudging her. Jane blinked twice, wiping the dust from her nose and looking up to learn where it came from.

"Yeah, go have some make up sex. He'll be happy again" Mai teased.

Lucia immediately blushed, shielding her face.

Mai laughed as she drew scrolled through social media. "I'm only kidding, hun. The Pharaoh's avoiding her, remember?"

"It's not just that," Jane added, "How can I apologize without explaining the text first? I don't know if I can."

"...What did you text him?" Lucia asked. Jane sighed, scratching the wallpaper.

"I said _I miss you_." She said feeling horrible. "Even after I told Yami that I was going to end it with Yuu and I have been putting it off..."

Mai sighed. "I understand, believe me. But the Pharaoh is so in the right."

Jane didn't disagree at all. She would have to make it right, but she was strangely curious as to why this spot in the ceiling was shedding dust.

Lucia raised an eye brow. "Jane, what are you doing?"

Jane banged the wall with her hand where she bumped her head. "Look."

More dust particles fell and Lucia came closer to notice that the wall paper was a shade darker in that spot then the rest of the wall. "Huh. That's weird."

Jane scratched at the wall paper and began wripping it off slowly like a christmas gift. Mai heard the noise and turned around.

"What are you doing!?" She worried, despite it not even being her house. Jane continued to scratch off the wallpaper to reveal a small dusty door from behind it. Lucia's eyes widened.

"That's creepy!" She said pointing at it. Mai laughed.

"It's probably just the attic. Lot's of them have the doors in the ceiling like that." Mai explained. Jane smiled.

"You have to admit, it's pretty cool." Jane said. "Anyone up for a little...exploration?" She suggested.

"Count me out," Mai waved, "It's just going to have a bunch of cobwebs and dust bunnies."

"I'll admit, I'm a little creeped out. The fact that it was covered up." Lucia said with chills down her spine. Jane pursed her lips.

"Don't do that. If you get creeped out, I'll start getting creeped out." Jane said, still curious to see what was up there. "Fine, I'll ask Link to check it out when he has the chance."

 _Knock Knock~_

"Jane?" The girls heard the familiar deep voice outside if the room and they all shuddered, looking at Jane. "A word, please?"

Jane scratched the back of her head and slowly descended from the crevasse and walked to the door. She mouthed the words _wish me luck_ at the girls and opened the door, closing it behind her for privacy. The Pharaoh was standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets. He was in his wife beater and snug fit tracks, sexy of course, and no longer appearing upset.

"...Yes?" Jane asked, instinctively fixing her bangs. Yami pulled out something from his pocket and revealed it to her. It was a brand new working rose gold Iphone.

"Please excuse my behavior earlier. It was uncalled for." He said. Jane took the cute phone from the king and blushed.

"Thank you..." She said, feeling so happy that he went out of his way to replace her phone. "I'm sorry too."

Yami played dumb. "You? For what?"

Jane stayed quiet before responding, knowing he knew what she was sorry for.

"...This will be over soon. I promise." She said. Yami's poker face remained.

"I know." He said, "Good night."

He turned and walked off toward the staircase and Jane sighed. Of course he wasn't going to hug her or anything. After all, a promise was a promise. No romance until Yuu was out of the picture. Jane rolled her eyes. In a way it's a good thing. It makes her want to break up with Yuu even more so she can have her Yami back.

Jane scrolled through her new phone excitedly and checked if all the old data was there and it was. _Did he go back on that road to get the sim card...or?_

Jane went into the contacts list and scrolled and scrolled. Yup, every contact was there.

Every contact except...

Yuu's.

Jane shook her head with a smile. _Oh Yami..._

 **A/N: JUST an FYI, the ASH from the stable is Ash from H20 Just Add Water Season 2. Yeah, I told you that this fan fic is getting all over the damn place. Anyway, he has no relevant importance and you don't need to know about him to follow along except that he's a great horse rider. Also! Yami and the phone right? Talk about savage. I wonder how long he can go with ignoring Jane because I have a hunch that she wont be breaking up with Yuu that easily. She's going to need a couple more pushes. I wonder what it will take?**


	6. Vol 1 Ch 5: My Name Is Drew

Savannah Georgia

 _Volume 1 – Chapter 5:_ " _My Name Is Drew"_

 _Girls Room  
Jane, Link, Lucia and Yugi  
9:30 pm  
Narrator's P.O.V_

"There's nothing up here." Link said as he came through the hole in the ceiling and landed in the girls comfy crevasse while spinning a flash light in his hands.

"Are you sure?" Jane said, looking up at him with curious eyes.

"As sure as I was the first 4 times you've sent me up there." He answered with sarcasm, turning the flash light off and hanging it on his tool belt he used for his old construction work. Jane sighed.

Lucia held Little Link in her hands and looked at Jane. "But Jane says she hears stuff up there at night."

Link shut the dusty attic door. "Yeah, only since she'd discovered this. It's just her imagination. Have you heard anything, Lucia?"

"Well, no, but..." She said. Yugi shrugged.

"Well, I've also checked it out using the millennium puzzle but, nothing." Yugi explained, "Sorry, Jane."

"It's alright, Yugi." She paused, "Thanks for checking it again, Link."

Link jumped down from the crevasse and landed swiftly but heavily on the ground in front of the girls. "Sure. This will be the last time I hope?"

Jane looked up at Link's superior stature and sighed in intimidation. "Yes."

"Good." He said just before he heard the front door downstairs and heard voices. Luna rushed out the room to check it out and Link flipped his bangs aside. "Looks like Mai is visiting again."

"Let's greet her." Lucia said with a smile, walking out with both Links. Yugi looked at Jane with worry.

"Are you absolutely sure you've heard noises coming from up there?" He asked. Jane shoved her hands in her pj pockets.

"Well as sure as memory serves me," she paused, "It sounds exactly like it does when Link is up there walking around. Like someone or something is exploring in there."

"Hm." Yugi looked up at the brown door. "Only at night huh? Is it alright if I crash in here with you tonight?"

Jane blinked twice. "I guess, why?"

"Well, if you only hear it at night, maybe the millennium puzzle can pick something up when the noises start. You said they happen every night since Link first went up there right? So can you say for sure that you'll hear them tonight?"

"Well it's been every night for 4 nights, so I assume I'll hear it again." Jane said then made a devious smile, "...but are you sure you're brave enough to sleep in a _girls_ room Yugi?"

Yugi blushed. "Awe, come on, Jane. You know that teasing doesn't bother me anymore."

Jane _flashed back_ to the early days living with Yugi and Dee and how they'd drive him crazy with the teasing. She smiled at the memory and hugged Yugi.

"You're getting tall, Yugi." She said, the boys head reaching her nose. He slightly chuckled.

"Am I?" Yugi asked, pulling away and leveling his hand over his head.

"Before we know it, you and the Pharaoh will be too hard to tell apart." Jane joked.

Yugi's face became serious. "By the way, Jane? I never had the chance to bring this up before but since everyone knows now and it's not a secret..." He paused, "What's the status between you and the Pharaoh?"

Janes teasing expression vanished. She blinked twice with an exhausted look. "I don't know. There's a lot to it...I could tell you later if you want...while we stay up to hear the noises?"

Then a familiar voice interrupted. "That will be difficult." Jane and Yugi turned to see the king at the doorway. "Yugi, you're scheduled to be at Proffessor Hawkin's lab in 20 minutes."

"Oh that's right," Yugi said, "We'll do this another night, I'll see you later." Yugi waved as he jogged out of the room to get the millennium puzzle to make his trip. Jane looked at Yami, expecting him to leave as well but instead he walked in next to her. It was late, so he had on a comfortable loose pair of tracks and a long sleave white top that was relaxed fit. Of course, he looked handsome still.

Yami looked up at the dusty door. "So, the sounds haven't stopped?"

Jane shook her head. "No, they're still as clear as day."

The silence was awkward. The Pharaoh kept his hands in his pockets and Jane kept hers behind her back.

"Listen, Jane." Yami broke the silence, "I intend to keep my word regarding the subtlety between you and I, but I must make an exception right now for just a few minutes."

Jane blushed but held her cool. "...w-why, what's up?"

"Considering that tomorrow is a marked occasion, I had high hopes that you would have resolved things with Yuu by this point, however it doesn't seem that it will turn out that way..." The Pharaoh explained.  
 _  
Marked Occasion? Oh. Valentines Day..._ Jane thought. "I know you've been wanting to do so in person, but I don't see any effort on your part to make the trip. It's painful and disappointing." He said coldly and Jane avoided his gaze with a sad look.

"I just-"

"Here." The Pharaoh pulled out two sets of tickets from his pocket.

Jane blinked twice and took them. She saw that the flight was marked on her birthday weekend and was headed straight for home. She sighed.

"This is..."

"To see your parents." Yami explained. "I know you miss them dearly."

"Two tickets..?" Jane questioned, playing dumb. Yami kept his poker face.

"I will be joining you. I would like to formally introduce myself to them." He explained. "Are you content with my gift?" Jane was extremely happy but her face didn't show it. In fact, she had feelings of anxiety.

"...this trip isn't just to see my parents." Jane said in a breathy tone.

"Seeing your parents is the priority," Yami paused, "weather you use this opportunity for something else is up to you."

Yami brushed her hair aside to see her face. "Happy Birthday." He said, leaving her in the room with her thoughts. Jane moaned and fell back on her bed. _What a sneak,_ she thought. She's not given a choice now. If she goes back with Yami, she wont be able to escape Yuu for long.  
This is it.

 _Downstairs  
_ _Link, Lucia, Mai, and Joey_

"What's up with you? You look exhausted!" Lucia said to Mai who's face contained dark circles and sleep.

"She's been working really hard. She just finished recording the team for the latest music video dedicated for Valentines Day tomorrow."

"Really?" Lucia said excitedly. "A new video? I can't wait to see it!"

"Because of Kaito?" Mai asked without opening her eyes. Yami came down the staircase and joined the 4 by the couches. Having grown used to Mai and Joey's constant visiting, he failed to greet them and instead checked the time on his phone.

"The weekend is over," he paused, "Starting tomorrow, work begins for all of us."

Joey laughed. "All except Mai. She just came from work and is taking tomorrow off, haha."

Yami blinked twice. "I see. Are you staying over tonight, Mai?"

The woman waved her hand.

"Then would you mind staying in the house to greet Duke when he crosses over?" Yami asked.

Joey moaned a _sure_.

"I have a late shift tomorrow, so I'll be here as well," Link paused, "...in case Mai sleeps through the day."

Mai snored on the couch and Joey pushed his palm on her head into the cushion to wake her up. "Come on, Mai."

Joey helped Mai up, guiding her upstairs to bed.

The remaining men looked at Lucia and she blinked.

"What?"

"So where are you going tomorrow?" Link wondered.

"School," She shivered, "My first day. I'm so nervous." She cupped her face.

"Will you be alright getting there?" Yami made sure and she nodded.

"Yup. Jane and Mai are giving me company!" She said, picking up little Link to go prepare for bed. Link looked at the Pharaoh when he didn't move.

"So... no plans for tomorrow, huh?" Link asked and the Pharaoh let the hylian see through him.

"I'm afraid not..." The King said, "We're going to visit her family together this weekend..."

Link blinked. "So...you're going to force her to end things with 'em?"

Yami didn't like the word _forced,_ but he wasn't wrong.

"No, I..." Yami stuttered, "I'm just - ...putting the pressure on. I informed her that we're going to see her parents and that is all...though she did promise at the museum that she would. I assumed she would have by now."

"Well if she said she would, maybe she was just waiting for the right time. This weekend is the perfect opportunity, right?" Link asked. After silence, Yami looked to his friend.

"One would assume. Link, if she doesn't stay true to her word and take advantage of this trip I...I'm going to be a complete mess."

Next Morning  
 _Valentines Day  
2:00 pm_

As planned, everyone was out for the day. Junior and Lucia were still at school, Yami was hard at work, Jane and Mai were exploring Savannah Georgia and Yugi went to battle city to help with the research on Atlantis. The only one in the house was Joey who, last Link checked, was still fast asleep.

Link still had 3 hours before his late shift at the stable and decided it would be best to take a shower now before then and before any of the girls got home. It was awkward to take a shower with two girls living in the house, but it was even more awkward when he saw Lucia naked from the back accidentally just a few days ago. Now every time he recalls just her name, that experience is all he can think about; how he couldn't believe that he never noticed her figure before and how beautiful her wet hair is when clung to her body. And her...well…Link grabbed onto the wooden rail of his bed and shook his head to clear the memory. He doesn't even like to describe how that made him feel even in the saftey of his own thoughts. The blond haired sighed, his shoulders slumping as he dragged his feet into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Just a quick in and out that's all it had to be. He needed to be quick so he could be at least dressed before any of the girls came home. He didn't need any more humiliation. Link reached behind his back, grabbing the very top of his tunic and pulling it over his head, his hat falling off in the process. He poorly folded it along with the shirt he wore underneath the tunic then started pulling down his pants and briefs underneath which he tossed onto the shut toilet seat. He ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up a bit while observing his reflection in the mirror and letting the strands fall over his pointed elf ears. As he stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water, he picked at the thick skin on his palms that had formed over the years from the heavy swordsmanship and leather friction from Epona's sattle. It took a few seconds for his body to adjust to the heat but when it did his muscles became less intense and with good memories of Hyrule, he was able to feel more relaxed than a few moments ago.

Link lowered his head, the weight of his wet hair falling forward as his thoughts wandered to Lucia again and he grunted. Last time he had felt like this was when Diana decided to pull a fast one on him when she was drunk. He was confused then because he never thought of Diana as more than a friend until she did that. And now, the same with Lucia. It didn't cross his mind for a second that Lucia could be anything more, but the moment something uncomfortable happens, he's having second thoughts...

Link sighed. Is it wrong to be thinking of her like this? After all, she's very much aware of how he had been feeling about Diana and he's just now getting over it. Would she judge him for moving on to the next so fast? Or would she think he's just a flat out perv for over reacting every time something happens between him and the opposite sex? Link rolled his eyes.

 _No way._ Link thought. _Lucia's too nice, she wouldn't think that way of me. I know for a fact I reacted to Dee before because I didn't know that she was drunk and my curiosity got the better of me. If there's anything I learned from those weeks I stressed over that kiss, it's that staying silent is death. I should have just went up to Dee and flat out asked what the hell was going on with her. I lacked courage and that screwed me over. She would probably still be here today if I just -_

 _No._ Link stopped himself. _Enough about Dee. The point is, lesson learned. I wont do it a second time, and especially not to Lucia. Not for the way she's been helping me lately, she doesn't deserve that. I'm going to be straight with her no matter what and live up to what I represent in the triforce._

Does this mean Link was considering a relationship with Lucia? He wasn't sure how he was feeling and it was too early to tell. It could be something but it also could be nothing.

..

Joey woke up to his Iphone buzzing beside him. He yawned and propped himself up and reached forward, grabbing the cell and placing it onto the pillow as he rolled onto his front to see who it was. The name _Dice Boy_ flashed as the phone continued to buzz. Why was he up so early? He looked at the clock. 2:15 pm. _Okay maybe not that early._ He pressed the speaker button due to laziness.

"Mornin' Devlin," he said, moving his hand from underneath the pillow and sitting up, bringing his arms above his head to stretch and crack his back.

"Morning?" he asked then snorted. "It's afternoon! What time did you get in?" he wondered.

"I like sleep, is that a crime?" Joey replied, using his index finger and thumb to rub at the corner of his eyes.

"You'll never change," Duke laughed and rolled his eyes. Joey picked up his phone and jumped down onto the ground from the higher bunk bed.

"I'm outside of the house. Let me in." Duke added.

"Why are you here?" Joey asked.

"Relax, I'm not here for you," Duke explained. "I'm here for the ladies."

"They ain't even home," Joey said, watching Duke jump the fence. "Let me get dressed and I'll be down. Don't go smashing in windows now."

"I hope you're wearing shorts underneath that," Duke cringed. "You're packaging stuff no one wants to see," Duke said to Joey when he was let in, Joey wearing a loose bath robe.

"Whateva," Joey rubbed his eyes, "So, you can wait here for the girls while I go back upstairs and sleep."

Duke sighed, "Why don't we do something fun? Are you the only one here? It's dead quiet."

"Nyeh, it's just Link and I right now." Joey said, blinking when Duke smiled deviously.

"Lucia's got a thing for Link, right?" Duke asked. Joey shrugged.

"Iunno."

"And... the girls are scheduled to return home soon, right?" Duke asked. Joey blinked.

"Yeh, what are you babblin' about?"

"Let's have some fun, Joey." Duke smirked.  
...

What Link wanted to be a quick _in and out_ became a rather long shower as his thoughts clouded his mind completely. By then, the water had ran cold and he was so lost in thought that his powerful sense of hearing failed to pick up the sound of the door open. He did however, out of the corner of his eye, see a shadow move on the curtain which meant someone else was in the bathroom with him. The hero of time cursed under his breath for being so out of it and not hearing them come in. Who could it be?

He heard a giggle, a rather familiar giggle _._ He watched the shadow through the curtain as it kneeled down to the toilet where he had put his tunic and other articles of clothing and the figure snatched everything. _What the hell?_ He grabbed the edge of the curtain tightly with his hand and pushed it to the side a bit, poking his head out to find two culprits.

"What are you doing with my stuff!?" he asked quite loudly seeing the green and silver clothes in Joey's crossed arms.

"Let's go!" Shouted Duke, grabbing Joey's arm and running out, leaving the door open.

Link stared in shock and turned off the water, rubbing quickly at his eyes thinking maybe it was his mind playing tricks on him. But alas, that wasn't the case as his clothes were indeed gone and those two brats took it. It had to be that damn Duke's idea.

He knew it should've been a quick _in and out_. Either way though he had nothing to wear now that he was clean. Time to track those two devils before anyone came home. Link grabbed the body towel as he got out of the shower and wrapped it around his waist, tucking the ends in and then ran out of the bathroom and looked around. Where could they have gone? ...  
...

"Thanks for picking me up early girls. I didn't expect some of my classes to be cancelled on the first day," Lucia said as she got out of the car once Jane turned off the ignition.

"Well Jane and I had seen enough, we were just waiting for you at this point," Mai said as she got out of the passenger seat, closing the door behind her.

"Did you at least have fun?" Jane asked. Lucia showed a selfie she took on her phone in class.

"Yeah, look how pretty the room is. Everyone's really nice too." Lucia smiled. Jane blinked.

"Is that your teacher? Damn..." Jane commented. Mai blinked and peaked at the phone, noticeing the man in the background only because of Jane's comment.

"I gotta say, he is handsome," Mai said. "For an older guy."

Jane shrugged, walking to the door.

"Hey, you gotta find good reasons not to skip class right?" She joked.

"It's only Joey and Link that's home right now, right?" Lucia asked.

"Should be, it'll be nice to have the house nice and quiet for a little whi-" Jane stuttered as the three of them stopped at the front door, hearing loud screams and shuffling coming from inside. Jane blinked.

"That will be my fiance..." Mai _sweat-dropped_. "...causing trouble as usual."

"Let's save Link," Lucia laughed and Jane pulled out her key, slipping it in and unlocking the door. She walked in, followed by Lucia and Mai but none of them expected what they were about to witness.

...

Right now all that was on Link's mind was to get his clothes back from the two of them. He almost had, on multiple occasions but the two brats would throw the clothes to each other and run off.

Right as the girls came in, Joey and Duke had ran past the front door, laughing at each other and Link was hot on their trail, just about to catch them before he skidded to a halt in pure shock facing the girls, causing him to loose grip on his towel that slipped clean off. The duelists took this as their chance to bolt upstairs given he had stopped, but they were laughing hysterically on their way.

Mai's eyes widened in shock and she immediately looked away, staring at anything else but him. She looked up at one point and started playing with her hair. She sighed and closed her eyes.

Jane froze in place and bluntly just _stared_. She stared at his lower half wide-eyed before observing his the rest of him. Damn did he have a body. She brought her hands up over her eyes, sort of, _pretending_ to avert her gaze in decency.

"What are you doing!?" She asked quite loudly but nothing could come out of Link's mouth. He couldn't think of anything and therefore just grunted, still frozen and trying to pick up his towel in a stutter.

Lucia was beat red. The most red she had ever gotten, her cheeks completely flushed, she had to take her glasses off to clean them, and she also just didn't want to be able to see. She looked away, almost completely turning her body. She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. Why was he naked!? What was even worse was that her body was starting to feel hot, which was so unlike her.

"Omg, what is going on?" Lucia said, high pitched and barely controlling her voice. Link grunted, still stuttering and dropped the towel again.

"I guess your Master Sword doesn't live up to it's reputation," Duke commented and this time, Link flushed as Joey laughed from upstairs.

"Too bad, I bet the girls were expecting this prize winning swo—"

"That's it!" Link turned away with a grunt of anger, finally able to grip onto the towel and wrap himself, leaving the girls and bolted up the stairs after the two of them.

"Wait!" Jane shouted from instinct when he ran away but the older muscular male didn't stop. "Do you need help!?" she ran to the end of the staircase, looking up.

"Help!?" repeated Mai, feeling the air was still tense. "With what, hun? Getting him off?"

"GIRLS!" Lucia practically screamed, bringing her hands over her face as it continued to remain red. Something fell on her suddenly and she pulled it off her head to see it was Link's tunic. She looked up just to see Link run across and she hid her face in the tunic, forgetting it was his for a split second her mind and heart was just racing. She couldn't believe what she just witnessed, what they all just witnessed.

Mai sighed as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Boys," was all she really had to see about the two of them.

The Stable

 _Evening Time_

"...Goggles?" Link hesitated, taking the dark and tinted goggles from Ash. He looked at them confused, wondering why they were nessessary for teaching horse riding. Ash nodded.

"Yeah, it's sort of a new rule. Sometimes the riding gets intense and because the field get's pretty dusty, it can harm the eyes of the riders if they're out there for more than a few hours." Ash explained, pushing Link into a change room and throwing in a horse riding hat as well.

"Why not just maintain the fields and clean it up more often?" Link wondered confused, pulling off his tunic by grabbing it from behind his head.

"Simple. Goggles are cheaper." Ash answered, leaning against the change room door with his arms crossed. After he heard some shuffling, Link spoke again.

"And what is this? I have to wear a riders hat now?" Link asked in disappointment. He's most comfortable in his hero hat. "What, are their giant boulders on the field that can break my head?"

Ash laughed sarcastically. "That's just part of the uniform, man. The students need to identify riders from other students."

Link grunted. "But...this looks stupid." He said, tucking his elf ears quickly in the hat before Ash could notice them. After buckling in his entire outfit, boots and all, he slipped on his goggles and blinked twice at the finger print plastered mirror. Why does this world put labels on everything? He didn't have to dress up when riding Epona. "I can't even recognize myself."

"You'll get used to it." Ash said, waiting for him to come out. But instead, Link just watched the mirror. He paid attention to his mouth especially since it was the most noticeable thing on his face due to the heavy goggles. This caused a flash back. He remembered the last time he closely observed his lips in the mirror after Diana's episode. Talking to the Pharaoh about it in the basement and...he remembered more than he liked and felt another migraine coming on. He hadn't noticed, but he broke the facet of the sink from clenching it to hard and tried to position it so that no one would notice.

"Link, do you need help tieing your shoes or what?" Ash joked. Link laughed, happy that he is able to work with someone as easy as Ash and opened the door. He grunted.

"Someone broke that." He said, picking up his back pack with his hero attire and heading to the field for his first official class. Ash followed.

Students were lined up against the fence, fascinated by the horses walking at arms distance and watching Link and Ash picking up sattles and ropes that hung on the fence.

"So is your friend coming to pick you up again?" Ash asked with a smile.

Link loosened the sattle. "Yeah, why?"

Ash rubbed his gloved hands together. "Will she come inside?"

Link blinked. "She? Oh my, Ash..."

Ash laughed with a _sweat-drop_ as Link whistled and called over Emmett. "She's not coming. Yami picks me up, I told you this."

"I thought if I asked again, you'd give me a different answer." Ash joked. "Alright, you need to go over anything? You're on your own this time."

Link cockily pulled down his goggles to reveal his piercing blue eyes. "Ash. Go teach, you'll need the head start. By the end of the season, my students will be riding better than yours."

Ash's jaw dropped as Link mounted the massive horse. "Is that a challenge!?"

Link turned the horse around. "And I'll do it on the horse that you failed to ride."

As Link rode away Ash laughed. "Ha! I lied about Emmett being the toughest horse around! My horses' name is _Rebel_ , Link. Why do you think that is?!" Ash lied.

Link ignored Ash as he rode to the far opposite end of the stable to his 6 awaiting students.

The House  
 _  
Joey visited late, upstairs with Yugi and the Pharaoh.  
Junior talking to himself and playing in his room.  
Jane and Lucia laying on the couch, listening to Mai work._

"So, where's Link working now?" Lucia asked curiously. Jane remembered she promised Link not to tell so she avoided Lucia's gaze.

"Uh, I don't know. I'm pretty sure he's still in the construction field..." She lied. Lucia remembered walking in Savannah Georgia with Link when they first moved in over a month ago and she's been wanting to check out the stables for a while.

"Did he ever try applying for work at the stables?" She asked. Jane sunk into the couch.

"I dunno..." She said. Mai typed notes into her phone, humming the tunes of her teams music.

"I think I'm going to go down and find out if they're hiring." Lucia said, jumping off the couch and jogging her way upstairs to prepare to go. Jane blinked, wondering if she should stop her and shrugged. She promised she wouldn't tell her, she never said she'd control where she chooses to go on her own free will.

Jane noticed Mai changing her tune and she tilted her head. "What's that? I haven't heard that one before."

Mai paused, surprised she was listening. "Oh it's just something that Kaito has worked on."

"Oh," Jane thought, "It's good. I just wish I understood what you were saying.." She _sweatdropped_.

"Why's that, hun?"

"I like singing along with music, and I happen to love yours but I can never sing it." She said, leaning her head on her left palm against the elbow that supported her weight on the couch.

"What kind of music do you listen to?"

"Only things I can sing too, haha. Literally. Vocaloid is an exception."

"No, really though," Mai said, positioning her stool to face Jane. "What do you listen to?"

Jane shrugged. "I don't know, um...Disney classics, country...hip hop, I guess?"

Mai rose a brow. " _You guess_?"

"I don't know, I'm music illterate. I just like whatever I like. What I like isn't usually mainstream, I find stuff on youtube." She said.

"Ok, then...name a song you like." Mai shrugged. Jane blinked.

"Ok, um...Tearin' Up My Heart? By Nsync?" Jane mentioned and Mai paused.

"I don't know that one. How does it go?" Mai asked. Jane squirmed.

"I-it's, Nsync, you know, Justin Timberlake...?" Jane answered and Mai shook her head.

"I didn't ask for specifics. _How does it go_?"

"Hang on, I have it on my phone..." Jane scrolled through her music app and Mai rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you just sing part of it?"

Jane pushed her sketchbook off of her lap in frustration. "I'm not going to sing it in front of _you_!"

"Why not?" Mai blinked.

"Cause that's intimidating. You fucking make music for a living. Forget it. Why do you care anyway?" Jane whined. Mai crossed her arms.

"Like you said, _I do this for a living_. I'm curious," she paused, "If I told you I like to draw, wouldn't you be interested in seeing a sketch?"

Jane pouted. "...it's a lot of preassure. I wouldn't ask you to draw live on the spot..."

Mai rested her elbow on the arm rest of the single couch. "Either way. Don't be a pussy and sing me part of the darn song."

They starred each other down for a few seconds and Jane caved.

"Fine.." She said, sitting up and clearing her throat. "But I'm shit next to Kaito."

"Just shut up and sing, darlin'."

Jane looked around to make sure no one was around and started singing, "..It's tearin' up my heart when I'm with you...~" She paused, voice shakey, "But when we are apart, I feel it too...~"

She stopped and waited but Mai stayed silent. She shrugged and she blinked.

"I didn't say stop?" She ordered and Jane arched her brow.

"Oh, and since when are you the boss, _Mai_!?" She faught back.

"I needed to hear how it goes and that hardly covers anything! That doesn't tell me enough about your taste or your voice." She argued.

"Too bad." Jane refused.

Mai sighed, understanding the Pharaoh's impatience.

"Just SING!" She raised his voice. Jane sighed, but began to sing anyway, louder due to her frustration.

"And no MATTER WHAT I DO, I feel the pain, with or without you.~"

Mai smiled, getting what she wanted and convincing her to sing again...so the Pharaoh could hear her.

"Not bad. What did you think, hun?" She said to someone else. Jane's eyes widened. _WHAT!?_  
She turned around in shock.

"Pharaoh," He corrected, walking toward the couches, looking at Jane who was completely embaressed, shielding her face. "I could say it's well done, just as it was before."

Jane's embaressment vanished. "Before..? When have I sang before?"

Yami turned to Mai. "At our previous home, the bathrooms weren't sound proof and we could all hear her. She would sing beautifully."

Jane's eyes widened and she smacked her forhead into her palm, mentally calling herself an _idiot_.

" _Beautifully_ is an over statement. She's alright." Mai commented. Jane felt insulted while being spoken about as though she wasn't there.

"You heard me sing two lines!" She complained, "Without warm up!"

Yami chuckled, sitting beside her on the couch. "I had a few favourites that she would sing quite often."

Mai laughed, liking that Jane was being picked on. "Which songs?"

Yami brought his finger to his chin. "Hm, I can't say I know their tittles."

Jane rose her chin, " _How does it go?_ " She asked.

Yami just blinked at her and when Mai stayed quiet, Jane got annoyed.

"Oh, what? You're not going to make _him_ sing?" She asked.

"He's King, hun. I can't make him do anything." He said. Yami chuckled and Jane crossed her arms.

"I can recall one..." Yami paused, "We'll do it all, everything, on our own.~"

When Yami sang that tiny snippet, Jane's eyes flew open and her heart raced so incredibly fast, she worried that they could hear it. She didn't know how to respond or what to do. Yami's voice already drove her mad, but to hear it like that made her stomach turn. And he was _good_. Not good like professional singer, but his tone was beautiful. She could be bias of course, but her affection for him just went through the roof just from hearing that short example.

"Hey, not bad! Maybe I can use you for some music, Pharaoh." Mai complimented. Jane snapped out of it when she noticed Yami was waiting for a response from her.

"Uhhhhhhh, that one is called _Chasing Cars_." Jane said quickly, clearing her throat. "By Snow Patrol."

After a long and akward pause,

"...Darlin', I think your voice there just soaked this girls panties." Mai said.

Jane _facepalmed_ and Yami _sweatdropped_.

"Pharaoh..." He said with sigh, avoiding the topic. Mai nodded her head once.

"That could have taken part." She said.

"Oh my God," Jane said looking up and wondering _why her_. Yami cleared his throat.

"I should return to Yugi." Yami answered, getting up off the couch. As much as he was loving Jane's bashfulness at the moment, he was going to stay true to his word and hold back. Mai's comments will be of much more use when he returns after this coming weekend... Yami smiled at the thought.

Jane's eyebrows became heavy when Mai burst into laughter when the Pharaoh was gone.

Stables

 _9:00pm_

Lucia locked in her bike against the fence of the stables. As she buckled it up, she admired the horses and the riders on the field, thinking that Link could fit in perfectly here. She looked around wondering if she should ask a rider, or go inside and ask around. As she tied back her hair, Link noticed her on the opposite side of the field and wondered if Jane broke her promise. Although, if that were the case, Lucia would just stop by when his shift was over, wouldn't she? Link helped one of the students off of their horse and turned to the rest of the students waiting for a turn.

"Snack break, guys. Take 15." He said to the students of variety in ages and all 6 made their way outside the fences to rest on some benches that were put there for observation. Link swiftly mounted Emmett and galloped his way to the opposite side of the field to where Lucia was locking in her bike.

"Hey!" He said loudly, as the comparing height distance was great. "What are you doing here?"

Lucia jumped in surprise of the huge black horse turning up near the fence in front of her. She looked up to answer. "Oh, I'm sorry, is this a private lesson?"

"..." Link paused, "No, I was just wondering why you didn't just come down at the end of my shift."

Lucia tilted her head. "Oh, I just came to ask a few questions about your riders. I didn't know I had to wait until closing..."

Link was confused now. "...what?"

Lucia smiled, trying be presentable. "I was wondering if you're hiring here. A friend of mine is amazing with horses and I know you could use his talents on the field."

Link stuttered. Lucia didn't recognize him? Link tightened his grip on the sattle and remembered he was wearing a riders hat and thick, tinted goggles. This was interesting. Link smiled and put on a voice.

"Uh. No, we're not taking in any new riders at this time." Link played along, just to see how far he could go. "Uh, but how _good_ is this friend of yours?"

Lucia put her hands together. "He's the best rider I've ever seen! He's strong, courageous, and patient. He's kind hearted and always works hard. He has amazing work ethics and-"

Link blushed immensely and cleared his throat, cutting her off. "I see. Well, I'm sorry but there are no available positions for any new riders."

Lucia wondered why the heck he even asked then but shrugged. "Can I leave a phone number? Just in case you guys change your mind?"

"Sure." Link humored her and wondered what else he could ask. Talking to Lucia as someone else was surprisingly easy! He didn't worry about being judged or put on the spot, he can say or do what ever he wanted. When Lucia handed him her own number, he put it in his pocket as though he didn't already know it. Then he cleared his throat again.

"We are taking students if you're interested." Link said just to keep up conversation.

"Maybe," Lucia said, watching the horses. This surprised Link. "How much for the lessons?"

If Lucia was generally interested, he could teach her himself, as Link, for free. But he was thoroughly enjoying this act he's started and it was tempting to keep it up.

"...$50 a week," he said, giving in to this acting role. "Until you cancel."

Lucia thought it was expensive for her and she could always ask Link to teach her. Link noticed her hesitation and hopped off Emmett.

"Uh, for you, $30." Link said, playing the role of the confident, flirty horse back rider. "What do you say?"

Link had no intention of charging Lucia, in fact, he had already decided that if she accepted, he would eventually confess this _prank_ and return all the money to her. He was just having fun with this.

Lucia didn't want to be rude by refusing such an offer and...she was too nice.

"Ok, how can I refuse that deal?" She said kindly, sort of flustered now that the rider was at her level at the fence. "When do I start?"

Link cleared his throat to remind himself that he's not Link right now.  
He leaned on the fence, trying to be cool.

"Whenever you want to, beautiful." He said. _Woah!_ He flustered himself with that one. Lucia blushed, blinking a few times and wondering what she got herself into.

"Uh, I guess I can start this weekend..." She said, only thinking of Link. If she became friends with this guy, maybe he'd offer him a job. "What time?"

Link's heart was still racing from his comment. He would never have said that as himself!

"Is 12 alright?" He asked, knowing that it works for Lucia since Jane and the Pharaoh will be in Toronto at the time.

"Sure, um.." Lucia scratched her cheek, "Isn't there any papers I need to sign, or...?"

Link didn't want her to sign anything because she would have to give the name of her instructor and then she'd figure out in minutes who he is. He adjusted his felt gloves.

"Well, if you sign, I'll have to charge you regular price." Link said, leaning forward, playing the rebel rider. "We'll just do cash between you and me. It'll be our own private deal."

Lucia was beginning to think this guy was sketchy, but remembered that he teaches kids as well in this stable and he has to have a clean record for sure. Maybe his mysteriousness was just getting her all shy.

"Alright, so who do I ask for?" Lucia asked. Link crossed his arms.

"Pardon..?" He asked.

"What's your name?" Lucia rephrased and Link slightly jumped. Oh, shit.

"My name?" He repeated. Lucia raised a brow.

"Yeah...?" She waited. Link panicked in his thoughts, thanking the heavens for these goggles to conceal his emotions. What name should he give himself? All the names he's familiar with are Hylian and she would pick up on his charade right away! A name, a name...

"Hey Li-!" When Link heard Ash calling, he slapped Emmett on the behind and the horse yelled, galloping across the field.

"Ash! Would you give Emmett his treats for me!? THANKS!" Link yelled back, turning around quickly to Lucia.

"I'll see you Saturday, then." He said, hoping she'd forget about-

"I'm Lucia." She said, hinting for him to introduce himself before they parted. Link looked at his students, waiting to start riding again, and remembered their odd, dimensional names. Stephanie, Calvin, Derek, Lisa, Drew...

"Excuse me? What's your na-"

"Drew." Link said out loud, desperate. He cleared his throat. "It's Drew."

Lucia smiled. "Nice to meet you, Drew."

Link smiled back before Ash interrupted.

"Hello! Li-"

"I KNOW! I'm coming!" Link said, understanding that the students were waiting.

"I'm sorry, I have students waiting, but um," Link clapped his hands and pointed at her, "But 12. Saturday, don't forget."

"I wont." She said, waving as the rider jogged toward the giant black horse, and mounted him with perfect expertise. Lucia blinked, wondering if this was a totally bad idea. Drew was hot, and clearly flirtatious and pushy with giving her lessons...was this more of a date than anything? Lucia shook her head. Nah! It's just her imagination.

"What took you, Link? You want to run away from our challenge already?" Ash played when Link was nearby.

"You wish." He played back, in a great mood. Link was feeling really confident as Drew and wondered if Lucia was even the slightest bit suspicious...

"Well!" Lucia said to herself, now unlocking her bike. "Time to get home and give Link his new scarf!"

 **A/N: Ohohoho, shit is going down! Link just invented an alter ego for himself to mess with. I wonder where he will take this! Also, Yami is planning to go back to their old town with Jane? That's a lot of pressure to end things with Yuu once and for all. I wonder what will happen over there!**


	7. Vol 1 Ch 6: Lucia's First Lesson

_I'm going to be straight with her no matter what and live up to what I represent in the triforce._

"It's complicated." He said.

"I'm sorry, I have students waiting, but um, 12. Saturday, don't forget."

 _"_ _Seeing your parents is the priority. Weather you use this opportunity for something else is up to you."_

Savannah Georgia ~ ForWARd  
 _Volume 1 – Chapter 6:_ _"Lucia's First Lesson_ _"  
One week Later  
Mai and Lucia  
11:00 am Saturday  
Narrator's P.O.V_

"So you decided to go?" Mai asked, leaning against the door frame watching Lucia primp herself up at the mirror.

"Yea, he offered me a really good deal so I didn't want to be rude and say no..." Lucia explained.

"It's a two letter word hun, it's not that hard," Mai rolled her eyes, "I don't get why you'd spend any money at all on lessons when you have two men in the house who would gladly teach you for free."

"I know but Drew was really persuasive," Lucia blinked, "Besides I'm mostly taking the oportunity to try to convince him to get Link a job there. If I don't succeed after a lesson or two, I'll come up with an excuse not to go anymore."

Mai chuckled. "No you wont, you couldn't say no to him before, what would change?"

Lucia ignored Mai. "The house feels weird without Jane and Yami to fill it with their tention," she laughed. "I wonder what her parents will think when they meet someone like him."

"Well anyone will react to a guy with his hair due." Mai answered, "By the way, have you given Link his new and improved scarf yet?"

Lucia shook her head, "No he's been working all week and I want to find the right time. He is still recovering from everything that happened with Dee, so I want it to be the right moment." Lucia explained, "I was even thinking of giving it to him in front of everyone so he really understands my intention behind it."

"A wedding proposal?" Mai joked and Lucia waved her wrist.

"That we're all behind him and supporting him. He was much happier before we moved here. I want that Link back."

Mai shrugged. "He seems fine to me, but whatever you say, darlin'. You better go, before you're late to your date."

"It's not a date!" Lucia flustered, walking out the door. Mai followed her downstairs and locked the front door for her when she left. It was the weekend, so most of the gang was off except for Link. Yami and Jane left last night to spend her birthday with her parents so all was left was Joey, Yugi, and Junior.

Mai walked back upstairs she crossed paths with Yugi who was leaving the guest room. He smiled at her, wearing a casual t-shirt and jeans.

"Any plans for today?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Not really. You?" Mai was curious why Yugi had his puzzle with him. He noticed her looking and smiled sheepishly.

"I'm going to check the attic one more time for Jane while she's gone. Before they left yesterday, she said the noises are starting to get increasingly loud now." He worried.

Mai raised a brow. They're getting louder now? Without answering Yugi, Mai pushed the guest room door open where Joey was lounging without knocking.

"Joey." She said and the boy did not move.

"Come in." He said sarcastically, eyes on the small TV and pulling at his pants on.

"Can you stop messing with the attic in the girls room? You're starting to seriously freak people out now." She said.

Joey blinked twice and turned around to face Mai and Yugi at the door.

"What are you talkin' about?" He asked.

"You know what I'm talking about. Cut it out, Joey." Mai explained. Joey arched his eyebrows.

"You think _I'm_ behind the noises that Jane's hearin'?" Joey said surprised.

"Only a monkey would push things this far." Mai began to get annoyed with his denial. Joey hopped up on his feet now.

"I ain't a monkey! If I was me, don'tcha think Lucia would hear the noises?" Joey explained, "She's tried stayin' up and has heard nothin' from what Jane's told us."

Joey had a point and Mai crossed her arms. Jane has better things to do than make this up, so what the hell is going on?

"Come on," She said, leaving the room.

"Where?" Both boys asked.

"I want to look in the attic myself. I'm extremely curious." She said.

The Stables  
 _Link and Lucia_

"Uh, Drew, don't you have, like, a beginners horse or something?" Lucia asked, looking at the towering creature in front of her. Link laughed.

"This is the beginners horse, Lucia." He said. Lucia breathed out and clapped her hands.

"Alright! Let's do this then," She said, walking to the horse and examining the contraption that was strapped onto it. After a few moments of silence, "...How do I get on?"

Link chuckled. "Are you right handed?" He asked. Lucia nodded. "Then you have to put your left foot on the ring here and swing yourself over."

As Lucia was about to try, Link saw Ash arriving to the stable in a small jeep and he stopped Lucia. "Uh, wait. Don't mount him yet. I forgot something important, I'll be right back."

As he started jogging toward the jeep, Lucia called. "Wait, Drew! Don't leave me alone with the horse!"

"Link?" Ash said as he shut the car door, "What are you doing here? You're not working today."

Link looked back to make sure Lucia was out of hearing distance. "Yeah I know. I'm just giving a friend some lessons."

Ash saw Lucia waiting in the distance and then looked at Link. "That's fine, but why the uniform?"

Link flinched. "Uh, I like it. Thought I'd wear it since I'm here."

"You told me last week that you hated it." Ash was suspicious so Link rolled his eyes, and checked again behind him.

"Look, I don't expect you to understand, but I have good reasons to what I'm doing. Just don't call me, Link today, alright? Call me Drew." Link explained, turning around and jogging back to Lucia.

Ash blinked and called him back, "Drew!? What kind of shit explanation is that? What's going on!?"

"Just shut up Ash! We'll talk later!" Link yelled back. When he returned to Lucia, ha played off a laugh. "He forgot he put me on the schedule for today."

"What schedule?" Ash asked. Link flinched when Ash was standing right next to them. He nodded to Lucia. "Who's this?"

Link flustered, "A friend of mine."

Lucia stayed silent. The lessons were suppose to be secret in order to be discounted and she didn't want to rat out Drew. "I'm Lucia."

Ash smiled. "Lucia? I heard quite a bit about you-" Link elbowed Drew in the ribs and he groaned. He was so lost and confused on what was going but he decided to trust Link and play along.

"Your friend comes by here once in a while." Ash said. Lucia raised a brow. Had Link stopped by here before?

"Oh? Who?" She asked. Ash smiled and took full advantage of the situation.

"Jane." He lied, "She's always coming around here."

Link rolled his eyes and cursed in his head. What the hell was Ash doing?

"Jane?" Lucia was confused now, "What does Jane come around here for..?"

Link couldn't signal Ash with his eyes. His tinted goggles were in the way. Ash lifted his chin.

"For me. She's crazy about me," He sighed, "I practically have to push her out of my stable when she comes by."

Lucia blinked. Jane wouldn't do that.

"Uh," Lucia started, "Are you sure you don't know me by my other friend, Link?" She asked. Link flinched and Ash laughed. He wasn't going to expose Link, but as a price, he was going to have fun with this.

"Nope. Never heard of him. Who is this, Link? Is he your boyfriend?" Ash asked, trying to get the information out of her since Link was trying to hide it.

Both Lucia and Link blushed. "No, not really." Lucia said.

Link grunted surprised. _Not Really?!_

"Not really?" Ash repeated, "What does that mean?"

"Well he's not, but I mean, well, you know..." Lucia said quietly, trying to avoid the details and Ash's eyes widened. Were these crushing vibes he was sensing? Why was Link posing as _Drew_? When Ash was begining to understand the crazyness, he smiled and decided he teased Link enough.

"Well I'll leave you to your...lesson. Have fun, and Lucia," Ash paused, "Tell your friend Jane to call me. I'm having second thoughts about rejecting her." He winked.

Link face palmed and Lucia blinked. She really has to ask Jane about this.

"Ignore him." Link said, caressing the horse. "He talks a lot of crap."

"Drew, how does he know stuff about me?" Lucia asked. Link cleared his throat, keeping up his _Drew_ voice.

"Oh you know, he probably met your friend like he said, that's all. Just forget about it, and let's focus on your lesson," Link paused and became curious, "unless...you want to talk about your friend, _Link_ some more."

Lucia shrugged. "No it's, ok." She said, gesturing toward the horse.

"Why, are you mad at him or something?" Link wondered. Lucia turned back confused.

"No I'm just over talking about it." She answered. Link adjusted his hat, double checking and making sure his ears were concealed.

"You are? Do you hate him or something?" He insisted. And Lucia raised a brow.

"No, I would't try getting a job for someone I hate." She chuckled, trying to mount the horse and forgetting about it. Link scratched his cheak when he remembered why Lucia came down here in the first place. He smiled.

"Good, you're on!" Link said, making sure she was positioned properly, "You must really care about him to go out of your way..."

Lucia nodded. "Sure, I'd do anything for my friends." She explained. Link mounted his own horse next to Lucia.

"A friend who's _not really_ your boyfriend? What was up with that anyway?" Link laughed. Lucia blushed.

"I just fumbled my words, that's all." She said.

" _Fumbled_. You fumbled because you're _not really_ friends either...?" Link said. He would never ask this as himself.

"I fumbled because.." Lucia blushed thinking that she fumbled because she has a giant crush on him and only in her dreams was Link her boyfriend.

"Because?" Link waited, "It's ok, it's not like I'm going to tell anyone."

Lucia sighed, trying to respond as kindly as possible. "I know but, no offence, I hardly know you and I'm here for a horse riding lesson, not a therapeutic session."

Link blinked. Who knew Lucia could be so cautious? What else didn't he know about her? He laughed and decided he asked enough questions.

"Fair enough, my bad. Let's get on to the lesson. And when you're comfortable enough to share your gossip, maybe I'll share mine."

Link said that with a flirtatious smile and Lucia blushed. Drew was a very handsome and charming guy.

The House

"It's nothing." Mai said, standing now in the attic. It was dark, dusty, filled with cobwebs and completely empty. She walked around to see if it triggered any sort of sounds, but just as Link explained before, it's just a creaky empty attic.

"Jane says that the sounds she hears sounds exactly what it sounds like when Link comes up to check it out." Yugi explained. "So she has the impression that something is walking in here at night."

Mai looked at Joey. Joey raised his hands.

"It AINT me, Mai." He defended.

"It's gotta be something paranormal then. There's no other explanation." Mai explained.

"Do you believe in fairies too, Mai?" Joey teased and Mai crossed her arms.

"There was a time I didn't believe in alternate dimensions, Joey. My perspective has changed recently." She said.

Yugi shook his head. "That's the thing, though. The millennium puzzle is made up of spirits and shadows. It would have picked up anything like that in here but every time I try, there's no reaction."

Joey kicked the wall of the attic. "Well if it's become a problem, we should all stay here at night and check it out then."

"We should wait for Jane to come back to do that." Yugi suggested, "She's the only one who hears the noises for some reason."

"What, are you saying she's special or something? Like the noises are tied to her?" Mai wondered.

Yugi shrugged. "Not really, I just want us to do it right the first time and since she's hearing the noises, she should be here."

Joey nodded. "Sure. Speaking of, she looked pretty tense yesterday before they left. What do you think is going on with her right now?"

Mai began to decent from the attic. "Last text I got from her was a smiley face, but that was hours ago." Yugi sighed.

"Jane is tense because the Pharaoh is expecting them to come back as...well...a couple basically." He said, following Mai down.

"Do you think they will?" Joey asked.

"I hope so." Yugi said. Mai nodded.

"She will. Jane doesn't approve of what she's done either and I think at this point, she's had enough."

"But what if she doesn't?" Joey asked.

"She will."

"But what if she doesn't?" Joey repeated. Mai sighed.

"Well, darn. If she doesn't, things will suck around here and I wont be visiting as often." Mai answered carelessly with full confidence in her friend.

"If she doesn't, I'm almost scared what the Pharaoh will do." Yugi said. "Remember when he found out about Yuu? He was a mess for hours in our room and then isolated himself in the museum and didn't want to talk to any of us."

Joey sneezed from the dust and brushed off cob webs from his shirt. "Then she better break up with the guy. I don't see why she would want a long distance relationship with someone else anyway when she's into a guy who lives with her."

Before the others could respond, Junior came into the room and snapped a picture. Yugi _sweatdropped_.

"Did you get bored playing with Gumball?" Yugi asked. Junior shrugged.

"Not, but Gumball pooped on the floor so I don't feel like playing anymore." Junior said in a cute voice. Joey laughed, happy it wasn't his problem. Yugi looked at the ceiling in a _why me_ expression and took Juniors hand.

"Well we can't leave it there now can we?" He said, walking out of the room with the little elf. After a short silence, Joey put his hands on his hips and turned to Mai.

"The whole weekend and we don't have to take the Pharaoh's orders." Joey winked. Mai rolled her eyes.

"He never gives you orders." She said and Joey shrugged.

"Just let me be a rebel for five minutes, will ya?" He said.

Stables

"See, you're getting the hang of it!" Link encouraged Lucia who was now riding side by side with _Drew_.  
They lead their horses out of the fences to walk along a nice green path by a pond to give the horses a change of pace. They spoke the entire way about long term goals and what they think about life in general. They even spoke about cool events and what goes on in down town Savannah Georgia and was making very good conversation.

Lucia tried to look collected, but she held onto the sattle for her life.

"I didn't realize how strong the horses are. I can feel their muscles under me." She said. Link laughed.

"Yeah, it takes good balance. You'll be riding them through jumps in no time, you'll see." He said.

"Ya right." Lucia doubted, watching a trail of ducklings follow their mother. She wanted to point them out but thought that Drew might find that cutesy and uncool.

"Lucia, check out the little ducks." Link said, pointing to the river. "Aren't they cute?"

This surprised Lucia and she smiled. It appeared that Drew didn't care about coolness. That made her feel more comfortable. "Yes! Look, that one has a black spot on his forehead."

The two admired the ducklings swimming out into the pond by some lilly pads to reach the other side, bathing and splashing their tiny feathers on their way. When they were out of sight, Link tapped the horse.

"Alright, guys. Let's start heading back." He said. As they turned their horses around, Link and Lucia noticed the sun beginning to set.

"How long have we been riding?" She asked. Link looked at the sun, being able to tell time from it's position.

"About 4 hours." He answered. "I guess we got caught up in conversation."

"I have to head home right away," Lucia said, wishing she was experienced enough to ride the horse on a sprint. Link blinked.

"Why? Is there somewhere you need to be?" He asked her. Lucia nodded.

"Link gets off of work at the site soon, I wanted to be there when he gets off..." She explained. "I don't think I'll make it."

Link grunted. "Uh, I'm sure it's fine. Can't you meet him somewhere else?"

Lucia carefully guided the horse with one hand so she can pull out her phone. "I guess. I wanted to suprise him at his work though, I wanted to give him something."

Link realized Lucia was calling him when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He _sweatdropped_ and ignored the call.

"That's weird," She said, "He always picks up. Even during work."

"Uh, it could be the signal. It's pretty crappy here," he lied, "You should try again when we reach the stable."

And as _Drew_ suggested, Lucia planned just that. Across the fence, Link hopped off of Emmet first, slapping his behind and sending him racing across the field. Then he reached up to help Lucia who was struggling to find her way down.

"Uh," She hesitated.

"It's alright, just put your hands on my shoulders." He said. When she obeyed, Link grabbed Lucia's waist with both stong hands and pulled her down effortlessly. Lucia blushed immensely at that. Turns out Drew is also a very strong guy. She liked strength in guys...

"Alright, I'm going to run inside and use the restroom." He gestured with his thumb, "You should...call your friend in a mean time."

Link jogged out of sight before Lucia can call him again and sure enough, his phone vibrated with Lucia's incoming call.

"Hey," He answered in his usual, comfortable voice.

"Hey Link. Are you getting off work soon?" She asked. Link got to the bathroom and removed his hat to give himself some breathing room. He shook his locks and looked into the mirror.

"No, I have to stay over time. We didn't get as much work done as we thought, and the building's under a deadline." He lied.

"Oh...have any idea when you'll get home?" Lucia asked sadly.

"Uh no. Sorry, it could be any time. Why, did you need more for something?" Link was curious what it was that Lucia wanted to give to him.

"No but you've been working a lot all week and I feel like I haven't seen you in a while." Lucia said, wanting to keep the scarf a suprise. Link blinked a few times. Was it just him or was Lucia implying that she was missing him? Should he ask her? Maybe as Drew he would...

"I'm sorry Lucia, I'll try to get home as soon as I can and we can catch up if you want." He said, trying to be kind. How could he not? Talking to someone as pure and sweet as Lucia just makes you naturally be nice.

Lucia wanted to ask if she should stop by the site and talk to him then but it wouldn't be right to interrupt him at work. She sighed.

"Ok, I'll just head home then and I'll see you whenever you reach." She said.

"I'll try to be fast, I promise. I'll talk to you later." Link said hanging up. He didn't wait for her to say good bye because he had heard her coming into the stable and didn't want to risk being heard. He turned on the focet to rinse the resedue from the sattle off of his hands and returning to his _Drew_ identity. When he came out of the washroom, Lucia was there waiting by horse stations. He walked over to her, drying off his hands on his jacket.

"Did things work out with your friend?" He asked. She shook her head.

"No. He's working over time..." She said. Link smiled, confident enough to ask as Drew.

"What's wrong? Do you miss him or something?" He said, almost flustering the last few words. Lucia nodded and caused Link to blush a bit. He cleared his throat. "Do you want a ride home?"

Lucia looked at him surprised. "A ride? Really? All the way home? That's so nice..."

Link put his hands on his hips. "Sure, we had a long fun day didn't we? Am I wrong to assume that we're friends now?"

Lucia's eyebrows rose at the comment. He wasn't wrong. She had a great time and she really liked Drew. He was very nice and easy to talk to. She shrugged.

"Yeah, we're friends." She confirmed, "Thanks Drew, the ride would be nice."

Link clapped his hands once. "Cool. I'll go get Emmett." He said, jogging off. _Emmett_?

"Emmett?" Lucia said, "We're taking the horse?!"

Evening

 _Duke visiting, Yugi and Junior who were now having dinner with Mai and Joey in the living room while playing video games.  
Link and Lucia arriving home._

"I can't believe we took a horse home." Lucia said, "I mean, who gets to say that?"

Lucia had her arms wrapped around Link in front of her who controlled Emmett the whole way. On arrival, she looked up at the house and expected Drew to comment on its luxurious nature but he didn't.

"Haha, I guess not the common person." he said, "Hang on, I'll help you."

Link dismounted Emmett first and faced Lucia who put her hands on his shoulders and repeated the action before as it was becoming a routine. She fixed her outfit and got confertable on land as Link handed her an envelope. She blinked twice and took it.

"This is," She said, noticing her money from today's lesson inside.

"Keep it, Lucia. I can't accept payment for a day that I spent with my friend." He said. Lucia smiled.

"That's so nice," She said. "Thanks Drew, I had fun too."

Lucia let herself hug Link in appreciation, catching him by suprise. He knew Lucia was a hugger, but she never hugged him before and yet she was comfertable enough with Drew that she gestured a hug? Link hugged her back, blushing a bit since hugs weren't as common where he was from.

"Get home safe ok?" She said, "I'll text you to mark my next lesson!"

Lucia waved at the front door and watch Drew ride off in his horse...it was very attractive to watch. When she snapped out of it, she noticed a car in the distance that was driving near the area of the house but decided to ignore it as she entered the home.

Inside, she was happy to see that there was still pizza on the coffee table. That was a miracle considering that Joey was in the room. Without greeting the others, she immediately dove for a slice.

"Sweet! Right on time!" She said.

"Lucia! Move! You're going to make me mess up!" Joey complained, stretching his neck to see the screen. The boys were going at it in Smash, especially Duke and Joey who were in complete competition while Junior's character was alone on the oposite end of she stage throwing items around. She took a bite of her slice and watched Mai type away on her phone.

"Any news from Jane?" She asked curiously. Mai continued at her phone without looking at Lucia.

"Uh, no she hasn't been replying." She said.

Suddenly, everyone heard a car door slam unnecessarily hard outside of their house. Everyone looked at each other confused.

"I saw a car pulling up earlier, but it was dark. Are we expecting anyone?" Lucia asked.

Just then, the familiar sound of keys stunned everyone. When the door flew open and revealed the Pharaoh, really pissed, no one dared to say a word. With that expression on his face, they barely had the energy to move. As the door opened, the Pharaoh ignored everyone and everything and stomped up the stairs without making eye contact to anything but the direction he was heading. When they heard him reach his room, he slammed his doors, frightening them with the sound. It was silent. Only the wind from the open front door made a noise. The only person to break the silence was Duke.

"So...wasn't he only suppose to come back on Monday?" He asked.

When Lucia nodded he said, "Uh oh."

After a few moments of nothing, Lucia walked toward the front door worried.

"Where's Jane?" Junior asked, not daring to take a picture this time. Yugi was already in the mood to cry.

Lucia looked outside to the car and squinted in the dark to find Jane curled up in the passenger seat with her head in her knees. Lucia looked back at the others with a sad expression.

"Oh dear...this looks bad, guys." She said.

 **A/N: So many feels with Drew and Lucia's lessons, I can't even! And Yami and Jane are home early. I wonder what's up...**


	8. Vol 2 Ch 1: What Happened?

" _This looks bad, guys." She said._

 **Savannah Georgia**  
 _Volume 2 – Chapter 1:_ _"_ _What Happened?"  
Following Morning _

_8:30 am  
Girls Room_

Lucia was awoken by sudden banging noises coming from the attic. She jumped up curiously wandering if it was what Jane was hearing so she turned to Jane's bed to ask but she wasn't there. She looked up at the attic door and saw that it was wide open and the noises were as clear as day. She climbed the latter on their crevasse and peaked her head through.

It wasn't the same noises. Inside the attic, she found Jane kicking the wooden walls in frustration and banging them with her fists, talking to herself. Lucia sadly lifted herself into the dusty room for the first time, remembering Jane in tears for hours before falling asleep, still not telling anyone what the hell happened on her trip. She walked closer to her, watching her step so she wouldn't trip over a frightened Luna.

"Jane? What's wrong?" She asked. Jane breathed unsteadily, still in tears and turned to Lucia.

"These stupid walls don't stop creaking," she said in a shaky voice, "I'm getting sick of it! I can't even sleep anymore!" She kicked the wall again and then hunched herself by the floor. "What's causing these sounds? I feel like my brain is going to shut down, I swear I'm having a migrain and my vision is blurry and-"

Jane stopped talking as she covered her face with her hands trying to take deep breathes. The excessive crying and the stress was taking a toll on her body and now the noises were becoming so frustrating for her, she couldn't get herself to sleep.

Lucia leaned down to comfort her friend and nearly began tearing up herself. She was afraid to ask about what happened while she was gone with the Pharaoh but she knew that this was more than just about some noises in the attic.

"Maybe you should sleep in the guest room for a few nights if they're bothering you so much." Lucia suggested, attempting to to pull messey strands of Jane's hair away from her face.

"Lucia?" Mai called from their room. Lucia crawled on the creaking floor and gestured for Mai to come up into the attic. She hesitated, but Mai joined the girls inside. When she found Jane huddled in the corner, it wasn't any different from the night before. She huffed as she sat in front of Jane and rested her cheek on her palm.

"I came in your room to see if you girls were awake and wanted breakfast but I see that we're stuck in a repeat of last night..." Mai said, "I know it sucks, hun, but if you're not going to tell us what happened and just cry, I rather go get something to eat."

Jane sniffled and held her breath before speaking, "I want to tell you guys, i-it's just-t hard t s-speak through the cryi-ing.."

Mai and Lucia looked at each other and then both stood up.

"So write it." Lucia said, helping Jane up and guiding her down into the crevasse where it was comfortable. Mai hopped down to the desk and grabbed some blank sheets of paper and a hard cover reference book for support. She pulled a pen from off the coordinated shelves, grabbed a tissue box and began climbing the latter again to sit with the girls. Jane immediately went for the tissues to clean up her face as Mai set the sheets of paper onto the hard cover.

Lucia rubbed Jane's back. "This should make it easier right? You don't have to tell us, but it would be a lot easier if we could help you."

Jane nodded and took the paper and pen from Mai and sat it on her lap comfortably. Jane's P.O.V

My hand was shaking I could barely hold the pen straight. I cried so much, my eyes felt like they were going to squeeze out of their sockets and I had the worst headache of my life. I was in so much emotional pain that I didn't feel like eating and I wasn't thirsty despite my dehydration from not drinking any water for the last 12 hours. I did the best that I could to start writing, and even though it was ugly, I just hoped the girls wouldn't judge me too harshly.

 _It was all my fault. Yami hates me now._

When I wrote this, Lucia asked me why and I could hear Luna waking up from below us. Mai saw that I wanted her close so she descended the latter, lifted Luna's limp body and returned with her. She purred in my lap...it was odd since Luna wasn't a cuddler with others watching. She must have been sensing my immense distress. Despite being so broken, the miracle of my kitten was able to calm me just a little...enough to at least control my anxiety enough so that my hands stopped shaking. And I was able to continue writing.

 _This is basically what happened.  
The plane ride was neutral. Yami was still keeping to his promise of treating me like an acquaintance, that never changed. Although he was a bit warmer toward me because he counted on my break up with Yuu. __Monster in Law_ _played on the plane, and I haven't heard him laugh in a long time._

 _"_ _Her disruption during the film reminded me of Joey. It's impossible watching horror with him in the room." He said. "Until he's frightened, then he becomes silent."_

 _When we landed, skipping all the terminal crap, we went straight to his hotel that he pre-booked. We were suppose to stay with my parents, but he didn't want to intrude on them since he's never met them, so we planned that I would stay with them and he would stay at the hotel. We dropped all of his things off and then went to my parents house. When we got there, they were expecting us so a small snack was set up of crackers and stuff – my parents don't eat dinner so even just the snack plate was a surprise to me – and they were surprised to meet Yami. He introduced himself as my friend and nothing more but my parents took him as just my financial provider. We had the crackers and did small talk and... I was having the time of my freakin life. I missed my parents a lot and loved their company but to see them enjoy Yami's company was wonderful. My dad read a lot of books growing up so he's quite the historian so you can imagine the intellectual conversations that went on between him and Yami. My mom made jokes about random stuff but she was always like that. She even asked about Yuu when my dad wasn't listening and I just put it off and told her I would talk about him later... Anyway, that's not when shit went bad. It started when it was getting late and time for Yami to go to the hotel._

" _You didn't have to book a room, you could stay here, no problem!" My dad said. Of course Yami refused, he was too civil to intrude. He pulled it off like a boss, coming up with an excuse of meeting up with old employees that worked in the museum before the move. He was going to leave but I... I had hearts for eyes I swear. Watching him with my parents made me love him even more. So I asked him if I could go with him. My parents looked at me funny and so did he. I told him that I wanted to stop by an old friends house since I am here and he knew exactly what I meant by a friend. He smiled. He freaking smiled like he used to months ago with me. So I went with him.  
We went back to the hotel first because I requested that I want to see Yuu alone. The whole ride there, he held my hand and hummed to music on the radio to himself. _

" _Thank you for respecting my wishes," He said, "I promise you will not regret this. I will make sure of it for the rest of my life."_

 _I was more confident than ever and that made me red as fuck. It almost sounded like a marriage proposal. I just told him that I wouldn't be too long and that when I returned we could go out for a late drink and spend the night together. He loved the idea. But I fucked it up._

I was getting to the really hard part and my eyes were in tears the whole time I wrote this. I stopped writting for a moment to collect myself and Mai sighed.

"What? You didn't have _good bye sex_ with Yuu or something, did you?" She asked. I shoved my face into the paper, staining it with salt water. Lucia covered her mouth.

"Oh, I hope not." She said. I tried saying _no_ through my teeth but I had no voice.

"...The Pharaoh didn't walk in on you did he..?" Mai said and Lucia gasped.

"Oh my goodness!" She worried. I panicked and grabbed the pen again to continue to explain.

 _No no no! I didn't have sex with Yuu!_

The girls sighed in relief.

"Well at least the worst didn't happen." Lucia said.

 _Almost..._

"What does _Almost_ mean?" Mai asked suspiciously. I stretched my hand as my writing was becoming an essay. My wrist was becoming sore but the pain was nothing in comparison to my migraine.

 _When we got to the hotel, he went into the washroom to change into something comfortable and while he was in there, I was ... ok ... I was basically mentally planning how I would do this quickly so I can come back and ... sleep with Yami. I know what you guys are thinking but at the time, it's all I wanted to do. When Yami came out, I told him I was going to try to be less than an hour and I hugged him good bye. He was surprised. "I'll be waiting." He said. You're right, it didn't stay a hug. We started making out like crazy – the most intense moment with him yet. He wasn't even hesitant about Yuu because he knew it would be over soon. It got so intense to the point that my buttoned shirt was completely open. We were going to keep going but I stopped because I wanted to break up with Yuu first. I pulled away and closed the buttons of my shirt, kissed him one more time and said "Don't move." And his beautiful grin sent me running out the door, barely grabbing my bag on the way out. At that point I was so ready to end things with Yuu, that never had he been on my mind and I still kept a smile. I drove there over the speed limit, with nothing but Yami on my mind._

"Don't tell me you didn't break up with him?" Mai asked me. I was too weak to answer. "You didn't did you? Are you kidding me!? Even after all of _that!?_ "

"Hang on, she's not done-" Lucia was cut off.

"I can't," Mai said, jumping down to the floor. "The Pharaoh doesn't deserve this, hun. Though I understand where you're coming from, please forgive my lack of patience." And with that Mai left the room. This didn't make me feel worse, I hated myself for it so I wasn't surprised that others would too. I wasn't going to continue, but Lucia wanted to know the end if this story... so I kept writing.

 _When I got to Yuu's house, my confidence completely vanished when he opened the door. He hugged me so happily that he was crying. Crying! Yuu never cries! Lucia, he was crying from missing me so much. I felt like someone literally, and I mean literally, ripped my heart out. I felt so guilty for cheating on him I didn't know what to do. He invited me inside and with nostalgia coming back, I was realizing how much I missed him too. Without thinking, I threw myself to him hugging him and crying. I was a mess. When I calmed down, we started catching up. Every other sentence I spoke, he would kiss me and apologize for interrupting me because he just missed me that much and he just looked so happy being with me. And the more I spoke to him, the more I felt like my old self. The old Jane. Before fictional characters became a reality. I liked it.  
Eventually he asked me to stay the night with him and I came up with an excuse. I actually wanted to so badly! At this point I was trying to break up with him though, I really was! And when he asked me about how Yami was doing, that's when I fell apart. I told him I am a terrible person and I don't deserve him. It came to a point where he actually asked me if I was breaking up with him and you know what I said? No.  
I fucking said NO!_

I had to pause again because I started crying a bunch. I mean how stupid is that. It came down to as easy as it could be, all I had to say was _yes_. ONE word and everything would have been solved. But I didn't. I realized how horrible I was that second.

" _You scared me. For a second there, I thought you were leaving me for him." He said. Yuu fucking said this. Of course, he knows how I felt about Yami since forever and still trusted me around him. HOW can you break up with someone like this without feeling like a shitty person? At this point, my mind was completely gone from Yami that I had to run away. If I stayed, I would be vulnerable and I know I would end up sleeping with Yuu and you know what? I've done so much wrong that if I did, it wouldn't have made a difference anyway. When I felt myself thinking that way, I told him I had to be somewhere, and ran the hell out. I got into the car and Lucia, as I drove, it literally felt like I was going through a rift into another world. When I'm with Yuu I feel like one person but when I'm with Yami I feel like someone totally different. When I'm with either, nothing else, not even the other guy, matters. I was crying on the way back to Yami. Not only was I incredibly late, but I was going back with terrible news. And every minute that I got closer, the worse I felt._

 _When I got there, and knocked on the door, he opened it really fast, like he had been waiting next to it. He looked at me concerned about the time but he looked like he had tidied his hair and that only made me feel worse. When he saw that I was crying though, he must have assumed it was a hard break up, because he came out into the hall to comfort me with a hug._

" _Are you alright?" He asked me.  
"...no..." I said. He pulled away and looked at me, waiting to explain. It was just as hard to tell Yami as it was to say yes to breaking up with Yuu. Only this time, I could do it. Because I know Yami is stronger. "I couldn't do it." I admitted. Yami starred at me with eyes that were... Like nothing I've seen before. He stepped back into his room without taking his eyes off of me. Then his expression became angry and he shut the door in my face. I cried hysterically in the hall. I sat on the ground leaning against the door, not moving. I didn't know what to do. If I should wait for him and hope he opens the door, go sleep at my parents or go back to Yuu? I was lost. But it was only about 20 minutes after sitting there that I heard shuffling inside of Yami's room. It was quick when he opened the door again completely dressed with his suitcase. He didn't look at me, just rolled by without speaking. I got up and followed him and dared to ask where he was going and he said, "Home." _

_I followed him the whole way, having to practically jog to keep up with his pace. He ignored everything I said, left my suitcase at my parents like I wasn't there and I faught my fatigue on the plane because I didn't feel right sleeping when he wasn't. The only time he spoke again was in Savannah Georgia on the way back to the house last night. He asked me, "If you couldn't do it, why were you so late?" He was smart. He knew we were catching up and possibly getting intimate during the hours I was gone. Yes, I was gone for hours. I figured answering was pointless because he already knew the truth. I just hoped he didn't think I went all the way or anything, but I was too scared to tell him that I didn't because that would basically mean "We made out but don't worry, I didn't have sex with him." Like that would have been any better. He would have freaked out even more...even then, staying quiet didn't help. There was no escaping his anger. And when we got to the house, he told me never to speak to him again. He broke the hinge from slamming the door so hard._

The Living Room

Next Day  
 _Yugi and Link_

"How is Yami doing?" Link asked when Yugi finally came out of the his room and joined Link downstairs. They were alone together in the lounge and because of its large size, the echo made him uncomfortable to respond. He sat next to Link on one of the smaller couches and answered in a quiet whisper.

"Well," He started, "He's really upset..."

Link cleared his throat and adjusted his hat. "What happened?"

Yugi sighed. "I promised I wouldn't share his story..." Yugi positioned himself comfortably, knowing the Pharaoh wasn't coming out of his room any time soon. "But in this case, I can't hold on to all this weight by myself."

Link understood that Yugi's story was intended to be unknown. He mentally prepared himself that what he was about to hear was never heard. "I can keep a secret," he said.

Yugi rubbed his forehead. "Well according to the Pharaoh..."

Yugi's Flash Back – Night Before  
 _Yami's P.O.V_

" _Monster in law_?" Yugi repeated, nearly smiling. It was a good film, but I almost felt anger toward him for appearing to remain posative. There was nothing about my circumstance that could result in a positive affect. I stood up from the single couch in our shared room and removed my jacket. It had come to be extremely late and Yugi didn't appear to want to get any rest until he heard every detail of what went on just hours ago. Although I was denying it, I couldn't possibly sleep either without informing my better half. As I removed my boots and tossed them into our closet a few feet in front of us, Yugi crawled across our bed to my side.

"So you watched the movie on the plane...and then what happened?" Yugi asked me, pulling at his hair.

"Well, when we landed, we made our way to the hotel as planned. I told you about my accommodations there." I reminded him and he nodded. "I dropped my things off and we went to visit her parents."

"What were they like?" Yugi asked, "Now that I think about it, from all that time living with Jane, we never met her family or other friends. In fact, she never really told us much about herself..."

When Yugi said this, I nearly broke the drawer when I opened it for my loose pants. Of course she didn't tell us. She did not want to risk any of us learning about him. How could I have been so oblivious to what is so clear? I remained silent as I changed into my loose pants.

"Where they nice?" Yugi tried again. I sighed.

"Yes, Yugi. They were very nice people." I said. I could sense that Yugi was curious about the people who raised his friend, so I told him more as I slipped on fresh socks. "They told me about Jane's upbringing. She's played Duel Monsters since she was 8, she took Ballet when she was 5, broke her arm twice, moved schools 5 times, collected dolls for years, began her drawing career after watching Inuyasha and the Little Mermaid, took a self defense course at age 16, has loved water activities her entire life, met Yuu at age 14, had poor luck keeping friends until college, was an A student in advanced courses all her life, worked 3 jobs before freelancing and...if I recall correctly, had about 17 cats during the course of her life."

Yugi looked at me stunned and I didn't respond. When it comes to Jane I... I remember everything. I could tell Yugi so much more but I was not in the mood.

"Woah," Yugi sighed. "I want to know more but I don't want to...get off topic. What made you so upset, Pharaoh?"

I sighed in frustration and decided it was time to give Yugi my full attention. I dimmed the lights and pulled our sheets over to prepare for a well deserved slumber that I did not want to awaken from. If only the after life revoked memories.

"When I was leaving the home to return to the hotel room, Jane asked to join me." I began. "At first I wasn't sure of her intentions and was going to refuse as that would be inappropriate of course however, she looked at me with a hinted gesture that this wasn't about companionship. It was about finally resolving things with Yuu. I – I was so excited that I accepted and, to my regret, I showed every sign of my contentment on the way back."

Yugi curled under the covers next to me. "I don't like where this is going." He said.

"Neither do I." I continued, "At the hotel, we shared a moment of intimacy in response to both our excitement. She left in a hurry to call it off, telling me we could spend the night out together upon her return and I...I read from her that when she would return she... had other intentions."

Yugi's face tinted darker as I explained this. Even without details, his innocence was clear.  
"...Oh." He said, "So what happened when she left, then?"

"She told me she would only be an hour." I said, "She left in a jog, so I assumed she may return even sooner. When she left, I... I was so happy that I straightened up the room. I washed my face and corrected my hair...I was even forced to turn on the radio because my thoughts were destructive in the cold silence. Killing one hour was not difficult at all. It was difficult when the second hour passed."

Yugi's face became sad and I continued.

"I assumed the best at first, she could be stuck in traffic, or perhaps her discussion with him had just extended longer than planned. I was not worried, her actions before she left was incredibly reassuring, believe me." I continued, "So I decided to wait for her in the main lobby over a drink. I stayed there for another half hour that felt like centuries, constantly checking the entrance and the time and asking myself if I should dare call and interrupt her. After the third hour past, I returned to the room and began changing. This is when I began to worry. I wondered if the hold up was due to an ugly break up. Perhaps they started arguing and Jane was trying to leave him on good terms. It could be possible that when she arrived, he was caught up with family and friends and she was waiting to catch him on his own. Would she not have let me know? Or did she not want him to know about me? There were many possibilities, including ones that were inevitably stressing me out."

Yugi sunk deeper into the pillow, waiting for the worst.

"After 3 and a half hours, I still held on to her words before she left." I said, "She told me not to move. Of course she was not literal, but it gave me much hope and I decided to go against her wishes and left the hotel for a walk. If she returned before me, she would let me know. The building was neighboring a small shopping mall, and I decided that time would feel less dreadful if I distracted myself. It failed. All I accomplished was a walk through the building before exiting and returning to the hotel again. It took nearly another hard hour of my time. By now, my heart was racing. I hoped to myself that it was innocent and she had merely fallen asleep, lost track of time or was having her last dinner with him. When I returned to the room, I changed again this time into my night shorts and nearly shaking as I put on one of the hotel robes. I waited, and waited and waited...by the door."

"Did she ever come back at all?" Yugi asked worried. I sighed.

"She did. I leaned my back against the door, staring out the window thinking about all sorts of things. I was so alert to every sound coming from the hall to be ready when she returned. However, after 2 hours at the door, I was beginning to feel myself getting tired and my body was preparing for sleep. That's when she finally knocked on the door."

"What...took her so long?" Yugi asked. From his expression I could tell that, based on my story, he was worried it was over something that would destroy me. And even now, at this moment, I still suspect it could be.

"I..." I was holding myself well until now and took a breath to keep it so, "I don't know Yugi. When I answered the door, she was in tears. My blinded love for her caused me to forget how long I waited and I immediately forced her into my arms to comfort her sad expression. I asked her if she was alright but my gesture made her cry more. I didn't know why she was crying. My mind was theorizing all sorts of reasons but from out past conversations, I could only conclude that she was just mourning from the lost. I had already known and accepted how important he was to her, and I can understand more than anyone how hard it can be to say goodbye to a friend. However..."

I clenched my fist and cursed myself for letting Yugi see my discomfort. He immediately turned his body to face me with wide eyes. "However...?"

"She told me she couldn't do it." I said. Yugi put his palm over his head in a manner that was predicted. He knew it resulted terribly from our return. I continued, "So I shut the door on her. I went to into the room furious, my body was no longer tired. I wanted to make her wait as long as I did, that was my plan. I pushed the hotel decorative off the counters in anger. She would never feel the same pain I felt waiting because I wasn't-"

I collected myself, "She wouldn't have to worry if I was giving my heart to someone else, or worse. I couldn't think, I couldn't even breathe. How could she even return to my room!? If she still belonged to him, she should stay with him! That would be the correct thing to do for everyone involved. When I realized how incredibly wrong and destructive her actions were, I grabbed my suitcase and began putting away all of my things. In the process, I made unnecessary noise to block out the sound of her weeping from the halls – it was making me feel guilty and I was not going to put up with it. When I finished, I took a few minutes to control myself and dry my eyes. I couldn't show weakness, I refused to present myself like this to anyone. And when I left the room, I ignored her existence all the way back to Savannah Georgia. I was too busy arguing mentally with myself that there was no room for discussion with her. I only asked her one question when we were reaching the house and that was _If you couldn't do it, than why were you so late?_ Her silence said it all."

Yugi's eyes were producing tears and it made me feel like crying myself. I must have been naiive to think that my partner wouldn't be affected by this story. If I was hurt this much, he must be feeling some of it. I would have broken down again myself however, with everything I went through, there wasn't any mourning left for me. I pulled Yugi close and held him, trying to mimic our bond when we shared a vessel. I stroked his hair as he cried to sleep for me, and it hurt me more that he was affected than anything else. To push myself this far, I have had enough. I wasn't going to wait for her anymore. Yuu or no Yuu, it's over.

 **A/N: JANE you Bastard! How dare you hurt Yami like this! You should just go back to Yuu and leave him out of this! What do you guys think? Do you believe that Yami wont be chasing her anymore? Do you believe it's possible to love more than one person at a time?**


	9. Vol 2 Ch 2: Showers Before A Fair

"I wasn't going to wait for her anymore. Yuu or no Yuu, it's over." ~

Savannah Georgia ~  
 _Volume 2 – Chapter 2:_ _"_ _The Spring Fare."  
A week later ~ March 1_ _st_ _Spring_

 _5:25 am  
Narrator's P.O.V_

It was a difficult week since the Pharaoh's return. It was almost as though everyone was put into a frozen state, fearing to move and trigger disaster. Everyone went to work or school, doing their own thing and trying to pretend like nothing has happened. Even Drew, Link's alter ego, had avoided Lucia recently in fear he would screw up his act under all of the pressure from home. Joey, Mai and Duke hadn't visited as frequently as the house wasn't as welcoming as it was before and, almost as though it was an unspoken agreement, everyone blamed Jane for it. As for her and the Pharaoh... well, no one can recall ever seeing them speak a single time since their return.

Outside in the early morning of March was a spring shower to end the winter. It came down hard, melting any last traces of snow over the light winter and giving all the vehicles of Savannah Georgia a good wash. The sun hadn't risen yet, and the cool breeze would surely make anyone sick in the current weather. Link knew this, as he was quickly jogging up the hill from from the town to make it to the warm house as soon as possible. He cursed himself for not checking the forecast prior to leaving the stables as he nearly fell from walking over a slippery rock as he reached the large fence of the mansion. He groaned when he got his blue Ocarina stained as he repositioned the doufle bag he was carrying. Looking at the house and noticing all the lights off on the inside, Link concluded that everyone was still asleep, as they should be at this time. Link began to hop the fence as he usually does, landing successfully on the grass and began to speed walk on the stone path, following it's fork road to the side of the house where Lucia promised to leave the side door unlocked for him. He sighed in relief when he arrived, reaching for the fancy doorknob. It was locked.

"Hyahh!" He said, kicking the door in frustration. He acted quickly and jogged to the back yard near the sliding doors where the roof shielded him from the rain. He slipped off his bag and set it down on a more dry area near him and pulled his phone out from the front pocket, planning to call Lucia to let him in. As he was about to unlock his phone, he stopped. What was that? It was impossible to see through the distance and the rain, but it looked like something or someone was on the bench on the far oposite side of the large back yard, all the way across the other side of the covered swimming pool. At first, it creeped him out, but it wasn't moving. Just a dark blur plopped onto the bench. Link squinted his eyes and payed more attention as he was now able to see who it was. It was the Pharaoh.

Link's face became concerned, as he put his phone back into the bag, left it there and stepped back into the rain. He silently walked around the plastic cover of the pool, pacing as though the rain was gone, just quietly approaching the bench. Link stopped about 4 meters away from him, stood there with both arms hanging at his sides and watched the King.

He was slouching as far as possible, completely soaked from head to toe and looking down at his dark boots that camouflaged in the dark. His hands were in the pockets of his black pants lazily, almost slipping out in a gesture of hopelessness. Had it not been for his chest moving from his breath, it would almost appear as though he had died on that bench. Link's eyebrows furrowed, waiting for Yami to acknowledge his presence. At first, the older male did not move however, a few minutes of Link standing there, the King lifted his head, just barely an inch, enough to see the Hylian staring him down in disappointment. Yami felt low, lower than ever. And when Link looked at him that way, he only saw the eyes of his own. He was not proud of himself.

"Get up." Link said, in an almost demanding tone. Although, through the rain, the Pharaoh wasn't able to hear Link or even see him clearly enough to read his lips. Yami just looked down again, hoping he would leave.

"I said, get up!" Link grunted so he could hear. In response, the Pharaoh only corrected his slump. Link walked closer so that he was standing above Yami.

"You can be sad. I get it," Link said, "But come on, Pharaoh. This has gone too far."

He was right. Yami stood himself on both feet, struggling at first to keep his balance. Link noticed that the bench was comepltely dry where the Pharaoh had been sitting, meaning he had sat there long before the rain even started its drizzle.

Yami took a step forward. Link crossed his arms.

"A Pharaoh wouldn't bring himself this low over a stupid girl." He said.

Yami didn't argue. Instead, he looked up at the window of the girls room, ignoring the ache in his neck from being slumped so long.

"Do not call her that." Yami said under his breath as he made out the silhouette of his heart break in the window. Wondering what she would be doing this early, he ignored his curiosty and looked at Link who's expression went from _tough love_ to sympathy.

"Sorry," He said, shifting his frustration to the stubborn Jane that caused this. What's her problem anyway? Link couldn't think of anything to say to the Pharaoh that could possibly chear him up.

"It's alright," The Pharaoh said as the chime of his third eye glowed in the dark. Sensing Link's sympathy made Yami feel appreciative, but also motivated. He was happy and thriving before Jane came into his life and yet now, he couldn't be happy without her. And, that was ok.  
He would just have to settle for friendship. "I will be fine, it's just-"

Link couldn't see the Pharaoh's tears through the rain, but with that expression, he could tell the King was broken. Link sighed.

"...it's just you need one more final break down." Link assumed, "I understand."

The Pharaoh didn't respond. His eyes just dissapeared into the shadow of his depression. Link decided to turn around and face his back toward him, giving him privacy without leaving his side.

"Take all the time you need," He said, "I can wait."

And with that, the Pharaoh leaned against the property fence for balance and let himself mourn every last bit of sadness he had left in him... with Link by his side.

10:20 am

In the largest washroom of the house, the sounds of clipping scissors went on in a rhythm of hair being brushed smoothly. Yugi sat on a leather stool and looked at himself in the mirror, blinking a few times and watching his hair slowly fall to his shoulders like feathers. Standing behind him, the Pharaoh brushed back Yugi's dark locks with a beautiful golden comb that he had brought with him from Ancient Egypt, lightly snipping at Yugi's ends, knowing exactly how he liked his hair as it was nearly the same style as his own.

The awkwardness was subtle, but it was there. The Pharaoh only really had conversations longer than a word or two with Yugi, and the King seemed most exhausted the last week, appearing as though he wasn't getting any sleep at all.

"Where did you go last night, Pharaoh?" Yugi asked.

Yami flinched at first, feeling completely humiliated and regretting last night. He never liked showing weakness and Link had just seen him at his worse. But, was that a bad thing?

"I woke up to open the door for Link," He said. Why didn't Link leave him there? Instead, he stood there for so long until the Pharaoh was ready to go inside. Yami smiled. "Are we done?"

Yugi examined his hair from every angle at the mirror and nodded. "Thanks Pharaoh, it looks good," he laughed, "Much better than the first time."

Yami blinked twice, remembering when he and Yugi just started living in this world, before even having met Link and Junior. They weren't able to go to a barber like regular people, so they had to teach themselves how to cut and style their own hair. The first attempt was not a good memory. The Pharaoh laughed.

"I recall your job being a bigger disaster than mine, Yugi." He said. Yugi flustered.

"Hey, that was because-" Yugi was cut off by the sound of a camera shutter. Both men turned to find Junior at the door of the washroom with a smile.

"Today is the first day of spring in Savanna Georgia," he said in his tiny voice, walking toward the mirror. "And I wanna ask you something, Pharaoh."

Yami raised a brow and nodded. "What is it, Junior?"

"Can we go to this?" Gumball came from behind Junior, holding a pamphlet in his mouth. Junior took it and stretched as far as he could to hand it to Yami. The King hesitated at first due to the drool infested advertisement, but examined it with Yugi standing from his stool to peak.

"A Fair?" Yugi read out loud like a question. Junior nodded.

"I found it at my school. Can we go later?"

Fairs weren't really something that Yami would be so excited for, but the distraction would do him well and he was sure he would have a good time with his friends. Yugi brushed off his cut hairs from his shoulders into the sink.

"I think it sounds like a good idea!" Yugi said, "I'll see if Rebecka can come along. Is that alright Pharaoh?"

"Hm," He hesitated, "I suppose, since we don't have other plans..."

Junior jumped in excitement and ran out of the washroom, calling out to everyone else to share the news. He ran into his brother in the hall who appeared as though he was on his way somewhere.

"Link! You're not going out are you? We're all going to a fair today!" Junior said, hoping his big brother would be going. He tugged on his pants desperately and Link blinked.

"A fair?" He repeated. He had plans with Lucia as Drew today and lied that he had work. How was he going to cancel all that for a fair? "I can't, bud. I have work today."

"No!" Junior whined sadly. Link lifted him up into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Junior. I will have to make it up to you." Link didn't like to miss out on oportunities like these, but how can he be at the fair and with Lucia at the stables at the same time?

Coincidentally at that moment, Lucia came out of her room with Jane for a late breakfast with two fur balls tailing them. Lucia wore a pair of comfertable shorts and a light zip up sweater, clearly dressed for her lesson with Drew. As for Jane, she wore a comfy _whinny the poo_ zip up as well over a pair of skinny jeans and sneakers. Both girls with their hair tied back.  
Crossing paths, Jane greeted the Hylians.

"Off to work?" She asked him.

"Uh, yeah." Link lied, looking at Lucia. "Are you girls going to the Fair as well?"

Jane blinked. "Fair?"

"I didn't know we had plans for a Fair," Lucia said sadly, "I've made plans with Drew today."

Junior frowned. "Aw can't you cancel, Lucia? I want you there."

Feeling special, Lucia smiled. "I could try."

Link stuttered. "I better go then, see ya." Link put Junior down and speed walked out of the house. He didn't want to risk Lucia calling him while he was still around.

Jane huffed. "A Fair? I'm not really in the kind of mood to go to a place like that..."

Lucia fixed her glasses. "It could be good for you. You haven't done anything fun since...well..."

Lucia stopped talking immediately to avoid the subject and Jane shrugged. At this point, what could she loose? It was better than staying in her room all day crying like she has been doing lately. Maybe the Fair will offer her some kind of solution to her drama right now. Jane looked down at herself and her outfit and for the first time since living under the roof with all of these men, she didn't give a crap what she looked like. It was a bit relieving.

"I'll go if you go." She said and Lucia raised a brow.

"I'm not sure yet, I have to call Drew. What about Mai?" Lucia asked.

"I feel guilty around her," Jane explained, "She has bad experience with the whole cheating on Joey with Valon years ago. I'm sort of a reminder."

"I bet if Joey comes, Duke tight tag along too. That should be plenty of distraction for you," Lucia chuckled. Jane smiled. It was true. Having Duke around may help her feel less stressed since he's not in tune with all the details. Outsiders may be just what she needs.

"Not just Duke," Jane said, "I'll ask Serenity to come too."

When Jane smiled in excitement, Lucia felt glad that she was finally recovering. She pulled out her phone while Jane walked off to the guest room to talk to Joey. Dialing Drew's number, she waited for him to pick up.

"Yo." _Drew_ answered.

"Hey Drew, it's Lucia." She said.

"Caller ID, stupid. Haha, what's up?" he replied. Link was really perfecting his new personality.

"My friends are all going to this fair today and..."

"...and you want to cancel our date?" Link said. Lucia blushed.

"D-date!?" She repeated and Link laughed.

"I'm just messing with you, stupid." Link said. "So go to the fair if you want. Our lessons aren't official so it's cool."

Lucia smiled. Drew was such a cool guy. "Why don't you come, Drew?"

It was silent on his side of the line for a while. "...you...want me to go to the fair with you and your friends?"

"Why not?" Lucia asked. Link was sweating now. Lucia may be a bit gulible, but would he be able to pull off fooling the others? Especially Junior who knows him well, or the Pharaoh with his third eye? He really didn't want to miss out on the fair though. He had lied about work, so he would have nothing to do all day...and it would be a fun way to mess with Lucia a bit... then Link had an idea.

"Well, I guess I can stop by for a bit. Where is it?" Link asked.

...  
Guest Room

 _Joey, Duke and Mai_

"That's too complicated, it's gotta be simple." Mai explained, wearing a cute set of shorts and a white top. Joey was leaning over Mai, watching her failed attempt to draw out concepts in a note book.

Jane came into the room to talk about the fair, but couldn't help be curious and listened in on their conversation.

"What do you mean simple? There's no simple with you." Joey huffed.

"Simple like Suit and Tie. Something classy." She answered.

"What do you need a suit and tie for?" Joey said lazily, who was still in his boxer shorts, wrapped in his sheets like a cacoon.

"It's gotta be nice," Mai added, "It's a romance duet with the Kagamines."

"Ewwwwwww, they're siblings though." Joey said. Duke laughed as Joey sat up and spoke in his usual accent. "Why not drop the cringe, and use Kaito instead?"

"Bad timing?" Jane decided to interrupt and all three characters looked up in her direction.

"Good morning." Mai said, returning to her drawing.

"You look very, uh," Duke paused, looking at the childish sweatshirt, "...comfortable?"

Jane cleared her throat, "It seems like we're going to a fair this afternoon. Are you guys in?"

"The type with cotton candy?" Joey asked.

"I think so..." Jane assumed and immediately Wheeler slithered out of his hibernation. Jane looked away from the nearly nude duelist.

"I'm in." He said, slipping his jeans on like a pro.

"That's it!" Mai encouraged Duke who took over and roughed out a 3rd concept. He didn't respond and focused while Jane stepped closer.

"Duke?" She hinted for an answer and Duke waved his hand.

"Yeah, yeah," He said, "We'll go to the fair, just go away."

Jane blinked twice assuming they were in the middle of work. She smiled understandingly and walked out of the room.

The Fair  
 _Yami, Yugi, Duke, Junior  
Jane, Lucia, Serenity, Joey, Rebecka, Mai_

In the largest park of Savannah Georgia, a spring Fair was set up as a prior celebration before the cherry blossom season. There were attractions and games for people of all ages and music playing of all different genres. Upon entering the fair, the three girls walked ahead, linking arms and scanning the area, taking in all the games, rides and snack bars. Mai and Lucia were already mentally marking all the attractions they wanted to try out while Jane was the most tense of the girls, as she didn't think for a second that Yami would be joining. This was the first activity they were both taking part in at the same time since the...incident.

"I know what you ladies need," A daring Duke pushed himself between the girls, wrapped his arms around Lucia and Jane and pointed toward the _Love Tunnel_ ahead as they walked. "One on one time with the one and only Duke Devlin."

"Ohhh," Jane said, ignoring his hotness. "It only carries two. Take Lucia. She's way thirstier than me."

Lucia flinched, "I am not!" Jane rolled her eyes at classic Duke.

"You're selflessness is adorable Jane, but don't worry. I can go with both of you." Duke said flirtatiously. That moment, Joey hopped swiftly in front of the four, pulling on his vest confidently to hide is jealousy.

"Not a bad pick up line there, Devlin," he said, "Now try it again after you get rid of the smell of man parts from your breath, and it might actually work."

Joey felt accomplished when Mai laughed at this.

"Why do you always want to hurt me?" Duke said sarcastically. Joey winked at Mai as his own attempt to flirt with her.

"Fairs in this world are so different from home," Rebecka commented, who walked with Joey behind.

"How so?" Jane asked curiously, letting herself slow down, falling behind from the others to join Joey and Rebecka.

Rebecka fixed her glasses.

"Well, for one, Kaiba would likely be the sponsor so the entire theme would be duel monsters." She answered. Joey put his arms behind his head and Jane smiled.

"So it must be a nice change then, huh?" She said.

"So if you're dating Yugi, why don't you come around as much?" Joey asked.

Rebecka shrugged. "I'm just really busy. Yugi tells me he will see me a lot more in the summer when tournament season starts. He wants to make a living using his tittle."

"I'm hungry." Joey changed the subject.

"You're always hungry." Jane said.

..  
"Are you sure you want to spend the entire afternoon here, Pharaoh?" Yugi asked, holding Junior's hand who walked along side Yami at the very end, and of fair distance, of the group.

Yami kept his eyes locked on Jane ahead. "A change of pace may be good for me." He said.

"Then I'll stay with you the whole time," Yugi smiled, "So you wont be by yourself."

The Pharaoh looked at his partner, "That's kind, Yugi. But I much rather see you enjoy your time with Rebecka. You don't get to see her often and I know you've missed her."

Yugi blushed and looked to the ground. "Well yeah, but-"

"Don't worry. I've spent 5000 years alone in the puzzle. I can handle one afternoon at a fair. Besides, I am not alone." The Pharaoh gestured his head in front of them, "I have Joey to keep me busy."

Yugi looked ahead and watched the blonde in deep conversation with Jane and Rebecka. He smiled.

"Ok, Pharaoh. You win again." He said. "Stay close to the Pharaoh, Junior. Don't run off."

Junior shot a picture of a nearby attraction as Yugi jogged ahead by Rebecka, shyly taking her hand and joining in on the conversation.

Coming to the first roller coaster, Duke playfully noogied his bestie, Rebecka.

"Are you sure these love birds are tall enough?" He teased.

"Come on, Duke. We're not that short." Yugi defended.

"Maybe if you put Rebecka over your shoulders." Joey added as Jane pushed him aside so she could make her way up the stairs.

"Hurry up, before the line starts growing!" She said. Soon the girls and all the others followed behind except for Mai who blinked at the sight of the drop and she huffed. She wasn't in the mood to ruin her hair. She looked around and noticed the Pharaoh by an ice cream stand, handing Junior a small cone. She walked over to grab one for himself and wait for the others to return from their fun.

"I'll take one too, please." He said to the server and slightly waved at the King.

"Afraid of heights, hun?" She suggested, gesturing toward the ride. Yami grabbed a tissue and wrapped it around Junior's cone.

"Pharoah," He corrected, "I am generally not interested in amusement parks."

"So why'd you come?" Mai asked, taking her cone and paying for it.

"I am avoiding a repeat of...recent events." Yami answered as he looked up at the top of the wooden stairs and watched his friends huddle up and fighting for the front seat of the coaster. He noticed Jane was not involved in the quarrel but instead, waving her hands excitedly in the back seat. Odd. His expression didn't change but he was curious as to why he's never seen her like this. She was dressed differently, her hair was simple, she was quieter, she was common. He felt like he suddenly didn't know who she was like they never met before.

"And how is a fair going to help?" Mai asked, walking with the King toward the exit of the roller coaster where their friends will emerge. Yami shrugged.

"I don't know Mai, I suppose it helps being near my friends and trying new experiences." He explained.

"But being near all of us means being near Jane as well. Doesn't that make it worse for you?"

"Pharaoh, I'm going to go on that, ok?" Junior asked, finished his cone. He pointed toward a neighboring _marry-go-round_ and the King nodded, giving him a ticket and watching the little elf hop his way toward the metal horses.

"It's hard now, but the best way to get over something is to face it." Yami sighed as he sat down on the bench by a smoking area facing the exit of the roller coaster. "It won't be this way forever."

Mai blinked as she sat next to him. "But before you decide to put it behind you for good... did you try everything?"

"What do you mean?" Yami raised a brow.

"Did you do all that you can before deciding it was hopeless?" Mai rephrased, thinking of how hard Joey faught for her when she was caught between him and Valon. Yami closed his eyes.

"There wasn't so much I could do considering the circumstance. She already belongs to someone else."

"Yeah but," Mai insisted, looking up as though she knew what she was about to say wouldn't be right, "You didn't really put up much of a fight. You put it all on her. Why didn't you talk to Yuu yourself?"

Yami leaned back and slightly grinned. Like he didn't think of that himself? Of course he did.

"That's immoral. I wouldn't want another man to intrude on my life, what gives me the right to disrupt others?" He explained

"You're too humble, darlin'. That's your problem." Mai leaned her chin on her palm.

"Pharaoh." Yami corrected, checking the _marry-go-round_ to confirm Junior's safety.

"Hm," Mai added, "But this is Jane, we're talking about. The one who'd practically drop everything for you just from the sound of your voice. Why don't you just work your magic, sweep her off her feet and end all our suffering?"

Yami rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed. " _Our_ suffering?"

"Yes. _Our_. Because you and Jane have this thing that when you're down, you let the whole world know."

"That is not true."

"Yeah it is," Link said, making a surprise appearance.

"Link? What are you doing here?" Mai asked.

"I'm uh...on my break and thought I'd stop by," He lied. "Couldn't help but listen in on the conversation..."

Yami huffed. He know Link had secrets, but he just didn't care enough to ask.

"Well, I was just disagreeing over the fact that Jane and I-"

"-but it's true. At least when it's about each other, it is." Link interrupted, crossing his arms. "This isn't as hard of a battle as you think, Pharaoh. It's Jane. She's crazy about you. Just win her over."

Mai nodded. "I agree. That's exactly what I said."

The Pharaoh looked up at the sky, almost smiling at the pathetic situation he was in.

"If it's that easy to win her over, why don't you do so? I'm not perusing her any longer, so I will not interfere." He said to Link.

"What? Grunt*, no. Jane is so..." Link paused when the Pharaoh looked at him, almost looking insulted and waiting for an excuse. "She's too...you."

Yami chuckled. "And I assume there is something wrong with that?"

"No, but..." Link was stuttering, "I know I am irresistible but you're not my type."

"Hmm," Yami smiled, looking back at Junior on the red horse.

"You're too...first class if you know what I mean." Link said, trying his best to summarize it.

"Jane may appear that way but she only behaves herself as such because of my influence. You'd be very suprised." Yami explained. Link raised a brow.

"Oh really?" He said, looking up at Jane as she was getting off the coaster, laughing. "This is weird, are you trying to push her onto me?"

Yami's smile vanished. "...No. That is the last thing I would want for her."

Link laughed and nudged the King. "Just kidding."

The Pharaoh _sweat-dropped._

"With all due respect, can we drop the subject?" The Pharaoh asked with a shiver, beginning to feel uncomfortable imagining how chaotic things would be if Link got involved with Jane. What a frightening thought.

"Sure, I gotta...head back anyway." Link lied. -

"That was great!" Jane said during laughter. All of them were at the gift shop below, looking at the photo's taken by the digital cameras half way through the ride. Jane rode in the back seat, making bunny ears with her hands over her friends. As for the front seat, Joey seemed terrified, Duke was laughing at Joey, Lucia was locking arms with Jane, pointing at something in the distance where Yugi and Rebecka was watching. Joey huffed and crossed his arms.

"I was not scared, alright! Duke kept poking my ribs and you know how I feel about pokes!" Joey whined and Duke laughed hysterically, paying the counter for a copy of the picture.

"Where are we meeting?" Lucia asked Jane. The cute girl pointed at the exit where Mai and the Pharaoh waited.

"At the smoking stop, there." She said. Lucia nodded.

"Alright, I'm just going to use the washroom quickly." She said, leaving her friends and hopping over to the stalls a few attractions down. When she reached the door, she noticed a line up and huffed, taking the time to correct her shoes. Hopefully her friends would wait for her.

"Guess who?" Someone said, shielding Lucia's view in the line. She smiled.

"Link?" She asked, turning around to find that it wasn't Link. It was Drew. He cleared his throat.

"Not quite," He said, adjusting his goggles. Lucia blinked.

"Drew!?" She said surprised, "So you decided to come after all?"

Link's heart was beating that she was able to recognize his voice just now. That was a close call. "Not really, I know some friends who work here so I thought I'd stop by to see ya." Nice lie.

Lucia smiled. "So does that mean you can hang out?"

"For now," He said, "Having fun so far?"

"Well we just got started," Lucia laughed, "Do you recommend anything?"

Link scratched the back of his riding hat and groaned at the itch he couldn't reach. "I was never really big on amusement parks or fairs," He explained. "But I can't ever resist the food."

Lucia rolled her eyes. Men and their food. "We should have something then."

"How about a big pretzel?" Link suggested, pointing to the fresh brown goods that spiraled in its stand a few meters away. Lucia nodded.

"I'm in. Just wait a sec, gotta take a break." She said, before letting herself into the ladies room. Link shoved his hands in the pockets of his riding jacket and looked at the pebbles on the floor to distract himself during the wait...

"I don't do roller coasters when the due is prime, hun, why is that weird?" Mai asked when she was being shut down by Joey. When Link saw his friends headed his way, his eyes widened before reacting quickly and rushing to the side of the bathrooms to remain unseen by them.

"It's alright Mai, you can show him up at Darts." Jane encouraged, pointing to the Darts carnival game set up close by, followed by a row of many other activities. One thing she never got the chance to do was play carnival games. When she was a kid with her parents, she was only ever able to experience the activities that were free and now was her chance to try them out.

"You want to play Darts?" Joey raised a brow at the girl and she looked away, avoiding the cuteness.

"I want to play more than just Darts..." She answered before Duke clapped his hands once.

"I'll play the game with you, Jane." He offered, "If you promise me a kiss if I win."

"Ha." Mai snorted, observing the prizes at the games that seemed better than expected. "I'm in, but not for Duke's consequences."

"Let's do a guys versus girls contest," Jane said, already plotting. "Winner decides what we do for the rest of the weekend."

Link laughed from where he watched the conversation.

"Awe Yeah!" Joey cheered and Rebecka shivered, tugging Jane's top.

"Uh, Jane. Are you out of your mind?" She said.

"No, why?"

"They'll have the Pharaoh on their team, we can't win." She said, remembering his powers. Yami grinned in flattery.

"I wont be taking part." He said. Duke turned immediately.

"What do you mean _you're not taking part_? We have Joey on our team! We need you to balance it out." He explained.

"Very funny, Devlin!" Joey huffed as Lucia emerged from the restroom confused.

"That's alright, it's still even," Mai said, putting an arm around Lucia, "We have Lucia."

Jane and Yugi laughed and Lucia blinked twice. "Wait, what?"

"We're having a carnival game contest, guys versus girls." Jane said quickly, "Guys first. You'll need the head start."

Duke rolled his eyes, cracked his knuckles and began his way to the first game of Darts. "Come on Yugi, you and Junior all I've got."

"Ya! Darts!" Junior cheered.

"Hey!" Joey complained.

As Yugi, Yami, Junior and Joey followed Duke to the stand to start, Rebecka chased after them to make sure they don't report false scores. Lucia began looking around for Drew and was very confused to find him gone.

"What's wrong?" Jane asked her when she noticed she was scanning the area.

"Before I went into the washroom, I was talking to Drew and he just dissapeared." She explained. Mai blinked.

"The infamous Drew?" She asked.

"Who the heck is Drew?" Jane rephrased.

"My horse riding instructor, remember?" Lucia said, "He was right here, we were going to grab a pretzel."

"Drew was here?" Mai said again, "What does he look like?"

All three girls began looking around. "He was...wearing his uniform." Lucia said, just realizing now how strange that was. Why was he wearing his uniform? He didn't need it, especially his dust shielding goggles. Come to think of it, from the 4 or 5 times she's seen him, she can't ever recall seeing his face.

Link sighed. He was stuck hiding for a while...

"Horse back riding uniform?" Jane repeated, "Alright, we will keep an eye out for him. In a mean time, let's watch the guys play against each other, despite their team status."

Jane laughed, pushing Lucia to their direction.

2 Hours Later

"Alright, it's the last game of the contest! A sudden death in the hands of Joey Wheeler, the underdog runner up duelist and Mai Valentine, the much more superior duelist and Vocaloid manager. Who will be the-"

"Would you _stop_ narrating, Jane?" Duke said in frustration, crossing his arms annoyed. "Everything is riding on this last match, and it's Joey's turn. You win."

"Do they? How's Mai's aim?" Junior asked. Duke raised a brow.

"I don't know actually. We never did anything like this before." He said.

Joey looked around at all the bottles, aiming his rings and waiting for the bell for _ring toss_. The girls caught them by surprise in every match, making it a tie game. The guys won Darts (thanks to Duke's coordination), cotton candy eating contest (thanks to Joey's appetite), and the three-throw game (thanks to Duke, Junior and Yugi's love for games). The girls won the wack-a-mole simulator (thanks to Duke and Joey getting into wacking each other), the water gun (thanks to Duke and Joey spraying each other instead of the targets), and the one that you throw the cakes and pies at the persons head (thanks to Joey eating half of the cakes and getting targeting by Duke's share). It was time for the sudden death match that would decide the victors and the fate of their weekend.

"You got this, Mai. Just do your best." Jane said, with a smile.

"Try to focus. Aim is all psychological." Rebecka explained.

"We love you no matter what, no pressure." Lucia encouraged.

Joey sighed, waiting for the same support from his team.

"Don't screw up, Joey." Junior _encouraged_. Joey _sweat-dropped_.

"Yeah, Wheeler. If we get stuck with a lame weekend, I'm shaving your head in your sleep." Duke added. Yugi _sweat-dropped_ and smiled. Joey shivered.

"Is that how you show your friend support!?" Joey yelled back in his accent. At that moment the bell went off and Joey turned back around in panic, throwing his rings. Mai was much slower however, aiming carefully and trying to get at least one. Just barely getting a ring over a bottle, Mai sighed and Joey began to panic even more. In response, he took half of his rings and throwing them all at the same time spontaneously and not getting a single one. Duke _face-palmed._

"What the hell was THAT?!" Duke said in anger. Yami and Yugi both sweat-dropped knowing that Joey's coordination was not the best.

"Maybe Joey will be as lucky in Ring Toss as he is in dueling?" Yugi said hopefully.

Mai still hadn't gotten a point and she had only a few rings left. Lucia had her hands together hopefully, Rebecka watched seriously and Jane was recording the game. Joey was down to one ring left and he waited for Mai to get through hers first. When she did, they both held their last ring to their chest.

"Ladie's first." Joey said.

"It's ok, you can end your misery first." Mai said.

"I would hate to add pressure to your shot if I score a point. Please, go first." Joey insisted.

"The same goes for you, hun. And I know you don't handle pressure well." Mai added politely.

"Nyah!" Joey worried. Then the man running the game intervened.

"People are waiting. Please throw your last ring."

Mai and Joey starred each other down.

"Throw them at the same time." Junior suggested, holding the Pharaoh's hand while watching and the two competitors nodded in agreement. They counted down to 3, both sending the multicolored hoops across the field over the bottles, almost feeling like slow motion and sure enough, both rings missed.

Everyone involved released a stressful sigh.

"You know, it could have been a lot worse." Duke said. Yugi fell to the ground in relief, frightened by his own imagination of what Mai and the girls would have them do.

Lucia laughed nervously and _sweat-dropped._

"My heart is still racing. You were killing me, Mai." She said. Mai shrugged.

"I'm sorry, I'm terrible at this." She said. Lucia tapped her shoulder.

"Thankfully, Joey was your opponent." She said.

"What do we do now, though?" Jane asked, "Do we leave it as a tie game?"

"It feels like a waste of time if we do." Rebecka added, correcting her glasses. Yugi smiled.

"Well we should just have another sudden death match then." He suggested.

"But what game?" Joey asked as Duke sat up on the ground.

"Whatever we play, can we please _choose_ the person to represent the team?" Duke asked.

"What are you sayin', Devlin?" Joey pouted. Duke stood up and dusted off his pants.

"I'm saying that we don't wanna put the hands of the competition to an underdog!" He explained. The others laughed but Yami just observed the quarrel, watching Jane subtly without being noticed. She seemed distracted enough from this competition and he envied her. He wasn't able to forget so easily.

Junior yawned getting tired and when Yami noticed, he picked him up into his arms to allow the young elf to rest is short legs.

"We just need to do one more activity." Jane said with her hand to her chin, looking around the park.

"The roller coaster, that should be good, eh Mai?" Joey teased. Mai rolled her eyes.

"You can't win anything on the roller coaster, genius." She rebuttled.

"How about lazer tag?" Junior said, pointing to a large black tent in the distance. Everyone's eyes followed Junior's gesture and blinked.

"Yes!" Duke clapped in excitement.

"Oh God, no." Jane said with a hand to her forehead. "Not a hunting game, I suck at that shit."

Mai cracked her knuckles and laughed. "Not me, darling. I'm so there!"

"You do understand that this is a mans game, right Mai?" Joey said, "We have the advantage."

"Actually Joey," Rebecka said, taping her toe to adjust her blue shoe, "Lazer tag is all about effective time management, ammunition limit and offensive strategy. I promise that you boys will have a difficult time."

"Oh ho ho," Duke laughed with his fist to his mouth. "Little Rebecka has accepted our challenge."

"You're only making us want to win even more." Joey said to the short university major.

"Then try it!" Mai defended. "Stop stalling and let's start the sudden death match, already."

As everyone began walking to the tent, Duke turned to the Pharaoh.

"Please tell me you're helping us with this one." He asked. The Pharaoh sighed.

"I'm afraid not Duke, it wouldn't be fair." He said.

"Who cares about that? If the girls win, we're done for. Haven't you met Joey's fiance!?" He said and Yami smiled.

"Yes, but I must refuse. It would not be honorable." He answered. Duke waved his hand, giving up.

"Pfff. _Honour_. Fine, whatever. Don't help. But don't come crying to me this weekend when Mai has us marathoning chick flicks, dancing in our boxer shorts to cringy boy bands, dragging us around the mall buying dresses and lingerie, or god knows what else, Yami!"

Yami was sure that their weekend wouldn't be fun if the girls won this afternoon however, Duke failed to realize that Yami was not taking part in the competition, hense would not be taking part in the consequences according to. The king closed his eyes.

"Pharaoh." He corrected.

-

"Alright, just grab your jackets inside and you will start soon." The man said after payment.

"Where's the Pharaoh?" Joey asked before heading in.

"Oh, he's going to wait for us by the ball pool with Junior." Yugi explained as Duke redid his hair tie so that nothing distracted him during the war.

"Alright, let's settle this." Joey said, being the first inside, followed by all the others. Lucia was the last person in the line of friends to get to the tent and just as she was about to join everyone inside, someone's strong hand grabbed her shirt and pulled her away from it. She quickly turned around surprised to find Drew again.

"Drew?! There you are! Where'd you go?" She asked, seeing that the trainer was holding two hot pretzel's in his hands.

"I left to get the pretzels. When I came back, I waited and you never came out of the ladies room." He said, taking a bite out of his baked snack. "I even asked a woman to check for me and you weren't in there."

Lucia sighed. "Yeah I know, I'm sorry. My friends got caught up in a competition and I... wait, you only got the pretzels now? It's been over 2 hours, didn't you look for me around the washroom stalls? I wasn't far off."

Link shrugged. "I ran into friends of my own, I'm sorry Lucia."

"Hm," Lucia decided to forget about then gestured her gaze to the tent. "Well you have bad timing. They're all inside about to play lazer tag."

"So let them." Link said with a half smile, "Come with me for a bit and have your pretzel."

"I, but-" Lucia really wanted to hang out with Drew for a bit, but she didn't want to let her team down. She turned around and looked into the tent and noticed that they had already gone into the darkness, probably too focused to notice that she had yet to join them. Link cleared his throat and held her pretzel closer to her.

"I got you the one with stuffed cheese ~," He half sang, "It's so warm, you can feel the humidity radiating off of it."

Lucia rolled her eyes with a smile, taking the pretzel. "Alright...since you went to the trouble."

"Excellent," Link jerked to the side, holding his arm out for Lucia to hook with. "I am sure there are attractions you haven't seen yet."

Lucia linked her arm with Drew's and nodded, taking a bite from her pretzel. She has grown to like Drew a lot and the more time she spent with him like this, the more valued of a friend he was becoming. She was hoping that, maybe after her lessons, she could introduce Drew to her friends and hopefully he will give Link a job just as she originally intended.

The closeness made Link slightly uncomfortable but happy that he made the move. Being Drew was amazing practice and anytime he felt like he messed up, he didn't have to take any credit as himself. Getting this experience as Lucia's _other_ friend was helping Link learn a lot and talking to Lucia and the girls as himself was becoming easier the more he posed as Drew.

"This is SO good." Lucia said, interrupting Link's thoughts. Link laughed.

"Well yeah, hello. It's cheese." Link smirked with his mouth full. Lucia watched Drew look ahead and she arched her eyebrows. His nose looked familiar.

"Hey, Drew? Why do you always wear those goggles?" Lucia asked. Link shivered. He wasn't surprised that she asked him this, in fact he was more surprised that it took this long.

"I told you, when the horses run, they pick up a lot of dust so..." Link explained.

"Well yeah but, you're not at the stables." Lucia said, hoping she wasn't being rude by doubting him.

Link shoved the last bite of his pretzel into his mouth and chewed before responding.

"I guess it's so comfortable, I forgot I had it on." He said with a bad chuckle. That answer wasn't enough for Lucia, but she didn't want to be rude and force him to do something he didn't want to. Still, she was curious what his eyes looked like.

"Hey, want to go in there for fun?" Link asked, pointing to the _tunnel of love_. It was perfect, he could talk to Lucia without the risk of being seen by the others. Lucia blushed.

"Uh, isn't that for couples...?" She said, burning up. Link laughed.

"Is it against the law to go with your friend?" Link asked, slightly blushing as well, "Unless you wanna go as something else..."

"That's not what I'm saying I-I just-" Lucia stuttered, watching the line up of couples entering the dark pink ride. "Isn't the ride boring though, it's basically just a water slide."

"Yeah, I love rides that splash water on you." Link insisted. "Come on, it's not like I'll try to make a move on you."

Lucia remained silent as the butterflies in her stomach acted up. He's right, this doesn't have to mean anything but for some reason she was nervous. She wouldn't feel this way with her other guy friends would she? Does this mean she's starting to like Drew? When the thought came to her mind, she looked at Drew to see his expression and he was just waiting for a response.

"Ok." She was able to let out. Link smiled.

"Now finish your pretzel. They don't allow food in there."

Meanwhile, in Lazer Tag

"BUT HOW!?" Joey yelled when he was shot again by Rebecka who he didn't even notice was nearby. She laughed and ran off.

"Get back here, Rebecka!" Joey said, giving away his position and entering the light.

"Joey, watch out!" Yugi warned, and soon Joey was tackled down to the ground by Jane and Mai. The girls gave each other a high five and pointed their guns at Joey's vest. As they dropped Joey's health bar increasingly, Duke lowered himself to the ground behind a glowing obstical. He waited for an opening and accidentally saw Rebecka crouching behind a mirror. He smirked and pointed his gun.

"Yes," He whispered to himself. "To be the first to drop Rebecka's health bar..."

When Duke shot Rebecka's vest, nothing happened. When he realized he was shooting her reflection in another mirror, he cursed himself for giving away his spot and standing up, running across the room and accidentally crashing into Rebecka, who fell onto Joey.

"Nice timing, Devlin!" Joey said, grabbing his gun and positioning it to Rebecka.

"I'll take it," Duke said, holding her down.

"You can't hold me down! That's against the rules!" Rebecka said, trying to escape Duke's clutches.

"You know Rebecka," Duke started, "I never realized how sexy you are until now, now that I'm this close to you."

Rebecka cringed. "ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW? Let me GO!"

"Sorry Beck, it has to be done. I don't trust your idea of a weekend." Joey said. At that moment, Mai and Jane found them holding down Rebecka, and they ducked.

"SHIT!" Jane said, ignoring her aching feet from running all game. "They're cheating! Shoot Joey!"

Mai pointed her lazer, nearly dropping it. "Ok, I'll try."

"When we win, a lot of the weekend will consist of alone time. What do you say, Rebecka?" Duke asked again. Rebecka wondered what was taking Joey so long to shoot. They loved to torture her.

"In your dreams." She said, ignoring Duke's handsome face. He smiled, tightening his grip on her arms.

"You know, you're practically perfect. Cute blonde, girl next door, a shorty...hm," Duke paused, "The only thing missing are your boobs. What are they, hiding?"

Mai shivered, pulled her gun away and ducked. "Duke, you idiot."

"What?" Jane asked confused.

"Dude..." Joey said, dropping his gun and _face-palming_ himself.

And easily, after a few short moments, Rebecka sent a powerful fist toward the dice master, sending him across the field. By then, Joey was gone for cover and Duke's health bar was soon eliminated.

"Nooooooo!" Yugi heard Joey yell and he _sweat-dropped_.

"He knew he would get that," Yugi muttered, "You don't insult Rebecka's lady parts."

The Tunnel of Love

Link's laughter echoed in the tunnel.

"Alright, my turn." He said, ignoring the saftey rules and resting his legs on the front of the moving cart. Lucia tempted to copy, but didn't.

"Um," Link wondered, "What was the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"

Lucia looked at the cheasy romantic decorative along the tunnels as she searched her memories of embarrassing moments. "This is hard considering I'm accident prone."

Link chuckled. " _Accident prone_ , what do you mean?"

"Accident prone, you know like always tripping, hurting yourself, stepping on your own foot..." Lucia explained, "I mean, growing up, my parents always told me to _watch my step_ whenever I went to or from my room."

"That bad, huh?" Link asked and she shrugged with a nod. "Alright, I'll accept that answer. You're turn to ask me again."

Lucia looked at Drew to think if another question to ask him. She had so many. Where is he from? What is his family like? Where did he learn to ride horses? Does he...have a girlfriend? Lucia decided to play it safe for now.

"What is your saddest memory?" Lucia asked. Link pursed his lip, thinking of several. Several that all had one thing in common.

"Well, I have a habit of losing people who are important to me." Link explained. Lucia's eyes widened. She didn't expect an answer like that.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Link began, thinking of Zelda, Midna and...Diana. "I have had really close friends before who have left me for reasons that I didn't understand and some without any reason at all. It really messed me up."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked such a depressing question." Lucia frowned, seeing a pattern of always being there to hear people speak about sad things.

"That's alright, I also have people who haven't dissapointed me so it all balances out," Link said, trying to drop the topic as getting emotional will ruin his act.

"Ok, then ask me something negative so we're even." Lucia smiled. Link grinned with an idea.

"Well, this isn't so much of a negative question, but a _what if_." Link started, "What if a friend of yours revealed to you that they weren't who they said they were?"

Lucia raised a brow. "Uh, can you be specific?"

Link cleared his throat. "Ok, I'll use an example. That friend of yours, what's his name again?"

"Link?"

"Right," Link played, "What if he told you one day that he wasn't who he said he was? Like, what if he was putting on act and was not who you thought he was?"

Lucia didn't get it. "Like...what? If Link told me he was really a girl, or something?"

Link snorted. And Lucia laughed. "What? That's not what you meant?"

"Haha, sure. That's fine. What if he was really a girl. What would you say?" He asked. Lucia continued to laugh.

"Hm...well it would make sense why he never showed interest in Zelda." Lucia said. Link stopped laughing as Lucia went on. "Annnnnd, I would probably apologize to people who mistook him for a girl in the first place. Like, Link is handsome but he has one of those feminine type faces, you know?"

Link _sweat-dropped_. "Ok, that's enough." He said annoyed.

As the ride was coming to a stop, Lucia shielded herself from the inescapable waterfall. As they passed under it, they laughed at the over kill and were now suffered to go home soaked.

Meanwhile, Yami and Junior

The little hylian yawned in the Pharaoh's arms, not 100% comfortable being held by anyone other than his brother. He lifted his pointed green hoodie over his head for snuggles and looked up at the sad king.

"Thank you for being with me all day, Pharaoh." He said with a smile. Yami looked down and smiled back.

"Of course. Someone has to make up for your brother's absence." He said. Junior put a hand on his chest, concerned.

"You liked spending the day with me?" He asked.

"I had a wonderful time." The Pharaoh answered.

"...Then why are you so sad?" Junior asked genuinely.

Yami didn't want to add stress to the child, so he lied. "I'm not sad."

"Yes you are." Junior said, "We've been family for so long now, I can tell."

Yami had been sad before and had gone unnoticed due to his excellent poker face. However, he was so broken this time... even a child could see it.

"I just have some things I must get over," He simplified, "But that doesn't change the fact that I enjoyed my time with you this afternoon."

Junior hugged the Pharaoh. He was very observant and knew the truth about Yuu and all that troubled the king but he knew it was best to pretend he didn't. Junior kissed Yami's chest and then snuggled his cheak against him.

"Things always work out the way they are suppose to." Junior said, "And they always get worse before they get better."

Yami smiled and accepted the hug from the little hylian. Junior couldn't help him at all, but his innocence was refreshing. It nearly felt like Yugi's pure, untainted soul.

Then, their friends were coming into view.

"Look, Junior," Yami broke the embrace, "Our friends are returning from their game."

Junior sat up, holding the Pharaoh for support while pulling out his camera and smiled.

"I can't wait to find out who won!" _SHUTTER_ **

A/N: **Welll that was a long one, and also a super cute fun one! You need a little randomness in a story now and then! Loved that Drew made and appearance and...I wonder who will be the victim to the losers penalty? Thanks for reading!**


	10. Vol 2 Ch 3: The Mysterious MrGold

_"What if a friend of yours revealed to you that they weren't who they said they were?" ~_

 **Savannah Georgia**  
 _Volume 2 – Chapter 3:_ _"_ _The_ _Mysterious ._ _"_ _  
The Weekend  
_ _Narrator's P.O.V_

"And you guys lost?" Link asked, blinking twice with his arms crossed, standing by the arch in front of the kitchen where Duke, Yugi and Joey prepared lunch for the girls. It was a humiliating loss for the men of the house, all of them holding an unspoken grudge against the Pharaoh who refused to help them win. Link tapped the heal of his boot against the marble floor in attempts to adjust his comfort.

"Of course we did. We had the underdog on our team." Duke responded in a sour voice, adjusting the beige apron that he had on, pulling tighter than required. Joey huffed.

Upstairs  
 _Girls Room_

The girls were enjoying their weekend for the most part. Lucia was reading some of her favourite manga, hair loose and in comfy sweats and a tank top over her bed, turning every page with anticipation. Mai was sitting across from her at the desk wearing a comfy skirt, sweater and browsing the web for entertaining videos. Jane was sitting in the wall crevasse, hair in a bun, big t-shirt and tights like she had completely let herself go, scrolling through social media on her phone. She was feeling much less anxiety today since the Pharaoh was working a long shift, but she wasn't using the time to be productive at all. As for Rebecka, well the girls have given up on questioning her whereabouts every few minutes but they knew for sure that she was making the most out of their victory.

Scrolling through a picture of Lucia at the fair, Jane threw a pillow at her on the bed below her. "Hey Lucia, I just remembered, we never found Drew."

Lucia blushed and closed her manga. "Actually I did find him...while you guys were in Lazer tag."

Mai blinked. "Why didn't you tell us this?"

"I don't know, there was a lot happening I guess..."

"What happened?" Jane asked curiously. Lucia shrugged.

"We went into the tunnel of love and just talked..."

"The tunnel of love?" Mai said seductively.

"Lucia," Jane added, "Sounds like Drew is more than your friend, hm?"

"What about Link?" Mai asked. Lucia looked to Jane.

"Link's not her boyfriend, she can see other people." She answered for her. Lucia looked to Mai.

"Yeah but, we all know she loves Link so isn't it strange for her to be flirting with someone else?" Mai asked. Lucia blushed and looked to Jane again.

"Not really, she has to keep her options open. I mean, if she dedicates all of her time to someone to get rejected, she will be alone. At least this way, she's got insurance." Jane explained. Lucia pursed her lip and looked to Mai again.

"But these are people, not businesses, hun. Shouldn't Lucia give her all to someone she loves and if it doesn't work, she can move on and try someone else?" Mai added. Lucia tilted her head considering then looked to Jane for a reply.

"That's deep love though. She's just getting to know Link and Drew and see how she feels, it's not like she's in love with Link or Drew that hard that she would be betraying her heart..." Jane paused and looked at Lucia, "Are you?"

Lucia shrugged. " I don't know what deep love is but I really like them both."

Jane laughed. "...I...COMPLETELY understand."

Mai rolled her eyes. "I can sort of relate. With Valon and all."

Lucia smiled. "But you love Joey more. We all know that."

Mai brought her hand to her chin. "Of course. But some times a girl wonders what if."

"Really? Do you feel bad?" Jane raised a brow, positioning herself that appeared very interested.

After a pause, "... I don't know, Valon and Joey are extremely different. Some times I wonder what my life would be like if I had gone with him to his island. You know, I think I would have been just as happy as I am now. I am thankful that Joey is in my life and I don't find myself regretting choosing him by thinking of what could've been, but it' definitely interesting."

Jane blinked. "Admirable, Mai. I wish you were around when I first met Yami. Then maybe I wouldn't be in this mess."

Mai smiled. "Probably not. We would keep each other focused. Diana isn't a really strong teammate."

Jane rolled her eyes with a grin. She still thinks it would have turned out this way. She couldn't resist Yami.

"So wait," Lucia said, looking to the ground in thought, "Valon _does_ exist, doesn't he? I mean, doesn't everything?"

Mai and Jane looked at Lucia and she face palmed. "I remember Yami and Link explaining to me how they met you and why they came here. They told me Link was looking for Midna and the Pharaoh was protecting the millennium items. When I asked how it's possible that their worlds are fiction in our world, Yami said that there are infinite worlds of infinite possibilities, so if you can think it, it exists."

Jane frowned, remembering her first conversation with the Pharaoh ever when he learned that in this world, his realm is an anime series. It all made sense. According to those rules, then any creator in this world was only imagining another world. Jane's eyes lit up. "So by that logic, then our own creations exist out there somewhere too, including our own imaginations!"

Lucia hopped on her bed in excitement, imagining the chance that her own creations may exist.

Jane chuckled, "So when we think we are coming up with fresh ideas, we are only seeing another possibility from another realm...that would explain mythical creatures, different religions and evidence of folklore. I mean, if we came up with time travellers and world travellers, they have to exist too. So nothing is really fiction."

"Oh my God!" Lucia squealed, "Can you imagine seeing the world of your own imagination?"

"It would be so epic! A world made of cotton candy," Jane flopped on her stomach. Mai smirked.

"Hey, this means that all your favourite characters are also out there. An infinite amount of versions of them." She said, then her and Lucia both looked at Jane with eyes of mischief. After a pause, Jane sat up again.

"No way!" Jane said loudly right away, "No. I don't need any of that. No! Do you see the trouble I am having just from having Yami in my life? I do not need any more members of my harem." Jane waved her hands in a hesitant motion. When Jane mentions her harem, she refers to all her crushes on fictional characters.

The girls laughed. "Well it's practically impossible, but are you saying that if you had the chance to meet Inuyasha, you wouldn't take it?" Lucia asked. Jane stayed silent, looking away from the girls.

"Hey if you can think it, it exists right?" I'm sure there's an alternate realm where Jane shares all her guys, haha." Mai laughed.

"Well isn't that _other me_ lucky..." Jane smiled, "But I guess that would explain my chaos."

"Your chaos?" Lucia blinked.

"Well, Yami in this world is fictional. But the real Yami from his world crossed over here. Do you think that messed up the balance of things?" Jane wondered.

"Don't be so conceited hun," Mai added, "If there were some universal laws, then problems would be happening in this world, not with you and your romantic life."

Jane blinked. "You have a point there."

"No, it would affect Jane." Lucia added, "Because she's the only one who's really interacting with the Pharaoh. I mean, he's laying pretty low in this world. He's only truly involving himself with her."

Mai blinked. "Ok, but then wouldn't affecting Jane effect the whole world? I mean, her life changes affect the people she knows, and the people they know and the people they know and so on. If crossing worlds messed things up, we would know."

"Would we?" Jane pondered, "I mean, if they didn't, that's another alternate universe we will never know if they affected things or not."

"Ahhhh," Lucia said confused, "So if I think of a world right now where we are all carnivorous bunnies, that exists too? Or a world where we are fictional for them?"

"Yup," Mai said, "If you can think it, it's out there."

Lucia blinked twice. "I am so done."

The girls chuckled. "Well let's forget about it." Jane said, "Besides, the only world's we could ever visit is Link's and the Pharaoh's which they refuse to ever consider so we are stuck in this one..."

Later

 _Main Floor_

"Going somewhere?" Rebecka asked Jane who slipped her sneakers on at the front door.

"Yeah, for a walk through the town." She answered while putting a leash on Little Link to take him for a walk for Lucia. Rebecka crossed her arms.

"You're not going to take advantage of every minute that the boys are at our mercy?"

Jane chuckled. "You torture them enough for both of us," she said, "I'll be back."

As Jane shut the door behind her, she sighed in relief. Finally she was able to frown freely without having to explain herself and spread negativity. Quietly, Jane walked down the long path past the gate and into the town, carrying nothing but her phone. There was a small chill for the spring, but she ignored the weather, being too lazy to return to the house for a sweater and as she walked by a few stores. Ignoring all of them, she stopped at an intersection by a news board. Looking at one of the flyers, she took a picture on her phone while she read the text to herself. _Savannah Georgia's Spring Masquerade._ It was nice that Savannah Georgia always hosted events because it meant the town was never boring. She considered going to the Masquerade with the girls: maybe it would be fun to meet new people and get away from the guys and the house for a little while. With her eyes glued to the phone, she began to turn away from the board before she bumped into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry-" She pulled back, shocked to find it was the Pharaoh she has collided with. Her pulse dramatically increased when she saw his face, that she barely noticed he was not alone. "Y-Yami.."

The Pharaoh stuttered. He couldn't just ignore her on the street, especially in front of his company who, he was just talking about her too, could tell they were familiar with each other. Yami sweat-dropped and cleared his throat.

"Good Evening," He greeted her. Jane feared Yami at this state, especially since this was the first thing he's said to her in days, so she remained frozen in place to allow him to decide the next course of action.

She took the moment of silence to look at the man that he was with. He was taller than Yami and much older and sinister looking. He had gray hair that fell just past his ears and wore a basic black suit and tie. He was a daunting looking man however, the most noticeable thing about him was his limp that he supported with an expensive looking cane.

"Who is this young woman?" The man asked, taking initiative to break the ice himself. The Pharaoh lightly closed his eyes.

"Mary Jane," He said, deciding to use formalities. Little Link barked harshly at the man and Jane pulled on the leash to calm him down. The man smiled when he was surprised to learn that the woman from the Pharaoh's stories was alone in the night in tracks, looking like an absent minded teenager. She was not what the king described.

Expecting an introduction, Jane was surprised when she didn't get one. She fiddled with the leash, still pulling Little Link back as he growled at the stranger, wondering who he was and why the hell the dog was acting so strangely.

"Go home." Yami said coldly, "It's not safe."

Jane looked at him in shame, then at the man who was... grinning. And with that, the Pharaoh and the stranger walked around Jane and continued on their way. Little Link didn't stop his growling until the two were out of sight and Jane sighed when the tension was gone. She felt a pain in her heart from the coldness that she received from Yami but she was slowly getting used to it. The bigger subject on her mind was the man he was with. Who was that?

"You'll have to do better than that," The man said to the King as his right arm shook to hold balance against his cane when they reached a jazz club. "You'll never be able to move on if you set up all these _what ifs_ by ignoring her."

The Pharaoh sweat-dropped. "I am aware of that. The wounds are still fresh."

"It's already been a two weeks. You have to start somewhere." The man said, "Now if you want my help, you have to step on it. Time if of the essence."

The Pharaoh raised an eyebrow, second guessing if confiding in this man was wise. He decided not to care as he had nothing to lose. The king sighed. "Of course. But first,"

Yami gestured to the club. "A drink."

Later At Night

 _Joey in Yugi's Room_

His intentions were good. The blond duelist didn't come into the master bedroom to snoop, he had just assumed that the king would have been home at this time. Coming into the large modern style suite, he wondered if he should have come in here to hide from the girls wrath all day. Joey casually slipped off his jacket to feel a bit lighter and dropped it on the single couch in the room and he sighed. For a Pharaoh's room, the set up was very post modern. There weren't any belongings left around and it was perfectly kept and tidy. The only thing left out in the open was a sheet of paper on the king's night table with some writing on it. Joey walked over to the table, his socks barely making a sound on the carpeted ground and he picked it up, examining the scribbles titled _Clarity_.

"Joey?" Someone interrupted and Joey quickly turned around to see Link at the door way looking at him with questioning eyes and crossed arms. He was wearing his long green t-shirt without pants-his favourite for sleep.

"I was just looking for the Pharaoh I um, needed a favour." Joey said, still reading the paper from the corner of his eye. Being engaged to Mai, who is well versed in music, Joey could see without a second thought that these were song lyrics written on the page.

"Yeah, he's not back." Link added, "I don't want to be pest, Joey. But I don't think you should be here when the Pharaoh's out." _  
_  
Joey was genuinely concerned from the script he was reading but decided not to share that with Link. He put it down and shrugged.

"Ah, the Pharaoh wont do anything to me." He said boastfully, grabbing his jacket and walking out, "By the way, I haven't seen much of you around lately, Link. What have you been doing?"

Link looked away form the boy, "Taking a lot of shifts at work."

The two walked to the edge of the stair case.

"With pants, I hope," Joey joked and Link smiled. They noticed that Jane was still up and wandering around the main floor, pacing back and forth on her phone. Before they had a chance to question her, the front door opened rather quickly with the Pharaoh coming in and shutting it inconsiderately roughly for the hour. Joey was about to greet him, but Link immediately covered his mouth and pulled him into the hall.

Joey attempted to free himself but it was hopeless against the Hylian's strength so he instead dangled there in place while Link dragged him without noticing. Then he positioned himself to watch the two and listen.

"Oh, Good Morning," Yami said with a grin when he found himself in Jane's path. Joey snorted behind Link's hand.

"Morning?" Jane raised a brow, her confusion over powering her fear. "It's 11 at night..."

"Hm," Yami looked at his phone to check the time and then shoved it in his back pocket, walking past Jane two steps in the hall without removing his shoes and clanking the sound of his boots and keys as he moved. "What were you doing by the Event Board earlier?"

Jane blinked and looked at his back before he turned around to face her. "Well, I was-"

"Don't speak." He interrupted her, looking at her deeply and gestured to touch her face, but didn't. "You look different."

Jane blushed shyly as she wasn't looking her best recently. "It's because-"

"I didn't ask for an explanation," He said, moving closer to Jane to examine her hair. He was close enough that she can smell the trace of whisky on him and then she knew.

"Yami, I think you should call it a night..." She said sadly. She thought that he was finally talking to her to forgive however, turns out it was because he had come home from a self medicating session for his heart break thanks to her selfish actions.

"You aren't in position to give me orders, I'm Pharaoh." He said, turning around and walking into the living room where he tossed his keys on the couch before sitting opposite of them. Jane wanted to leave him on the couch to his anger, but he would only be upset with her more if she let him make a fool of himself in a moment of weakness. Jane held back all her feelings and joined the king on the couch.

"Finally," Joey whispered when Link released him, both kneeling by the stairs. "Why are you just watching this, he's drunk! This is a golden moment." He chuckled. Link rolled his eyes.

"He's not _drunk,_ " Link said, "I mean he's not totally sober, but can you blame him?"

Joey frowned right away. "Trust me, I don't. I may not have been around as long as you, Link, but I have seen enough."

Link faced the man. "What do you mean, what have you seen?"

"What have you seen?" Joey repeated, wanting him to spill first.

Link didn't look back as he watched the Pharaoh lazily on the couch with a smile, watching Jane with love in his eyes as usual. He knew Joey and the Pharaoh were close, but he wasn't going to share secrets that weren't his. Finding the king in the rain was going to remain an unspoken memory.

Jane sighed when her attempts to get the Pharaoh to bed weren't working. She brushed her bangs behind her ear and grabbed his keys. "Yami, please. I'll do anything."

Yami took his eyes off her and his expression became serious.

"Wait...I have heard those words before," He said with his hand up to silence her. He then looked at her again with anger. "I should be upset with you."

Jane frowned, not denying so. "Please..."

Yami stood up from the couch. "After what you've done, why are you even near me?!" He said, slightly louder than normal and immediately, Joey and Link jumped up and rushed down the stairs to interrupt the conversation.

"Hey, Pharaoh! Welcome home." Link said with a smile, tapping Yami's right shoulder.

"It's been a long day for you, Pharaoh, why don't we get a well deserved rest?" Joey grabbed Yami's forearm and the king flicked away his grasp without a second thought and looked at his friends with a stern cold look.

"Know your place," He told them both before giving Jane a dirty look and began making his way out of the area and up the stairs. There was an awkward silence before Link crossed his arms and broke it.

"Are you crazy?" He said to Jane, "Trying to approach him when he's like that?"

Jane didn't argue as she has no rights. "I was just trying to get him upstairs."

"Really?" Link asked sarcastically and turned to Joey. "Is that what it looked like to you? Because it looked to me like she was trying to make up with Yami while he was vulnerable. Which, by the way, he's never been before in his life!"

"That's not true!" Jane stood up, "I would never do that!"

"So you were just leading him on again, then." He added.

"I was-" Jane sighed, "I was trying to help him."

"Don't." Link said, bringing back the silence.

Following Morning

 _Rebecka has gone home_

It was an awkward morning. Everyone's had breakfast at their own time and mostly ignored each other due to the heavy tension between Jane and the king _as usual_. Most of the gang lingered in front of the TV, procrastinating as much as they could before having to move on to whatever the day had in store for them. Jane sunk into the couch in shame when she saw Yami and Mai jogging down the stairs, both dressed for the perfect March breeze.

"Thanks for the help, hun," Mai said as she grabbed her white sneakers, slipping them on and quickly doing up the laces, not really caring if they were done properly or not.

"Pharaoh," he corrected but Mai didn't seem to pay any attention as she fixed her jacket. Yami was in his usual tank top and skin tight jeans, pulling on his usual boots and grabbing the car keys. It was a little uncomfortable considering that both were pretending that previous events haven't occurred, but Yami was thankful that the woman provided him with a temporary distraction.

"Where are you two going?" Yugi asked in his comfy shirt, having gotten up off the floor and into the hallway.

"I'm dropping Mai off at a photo session that she'd be late for other wise," Yami answered.

" _Photo session_? Like a photo shoot? Can we come?" Lucia asked, giving up with the TV.

"Not unless you want to meet us there," Mai said without looking up as she pulled her phone out of her pocket to look at the time. They were going to be late any minute, no more questions. "Come on, Pharaoh!"

This surprised everyone except for Yami as a small smirk came across his lips and he opened the door, pressing a button on the car keys to unlock the car door and Mai went rushing out ahead of him. Yami gave a quick gesture to the others and closed the door behind him to head to the car.

"A photo shoot?" repeated Lucia once more. "Do you know where it is?"

Jane shrugged.

"Can we go check it out?" Junior seemed interested now, especially if it would get them out of the house for a little while.

"I guess we could…" Jane started slowly, closing her game and pulling her headphones out. "But we can't bother them, got it?" Everyone nodded in unison. "I think they're at a private park across town. I could ask Mai."

"Finally something different. So how are we going to get there?" Joey asked, crossing his arms across his chest. Yami had his car and the only other person in the house who can drive was Jane and she would immediately refuse.

"I can ask Drew," Lucia said as an afterthought.

"Drew?" Link struggled to breathe. "Why him?"

"Well maybe he'll let us borrow a horse, he's taken me home before," she said and Link tried his best to hide the blush he could feel burning on his cheeks. Yugi glanced at Link and swore he could've seen the older male's face pale.

"Hylian's get hot easily," Link said quickly. "The AC must be off..." he pulled off his hat and waved it near his face as if to prove his point. Lucia blushed and looked away as she doesn't get to see his full head of hair very often.

"So..." She struggled to say, "Should I call Drew?"

"And rent horses? There's too many of us, that would cost a fortune." Jane finally spoke and stood up, lazily walking toward the front door and grabbing the key for the second car. She huffed, thinking she would regret this but it was better than wasting away on the couch. "Come on, I'll drive you guys. Though I demand that Yugi takes shot gun."

As they began to stand up, Joey pouted his lip. "Why does Yugi get first dibs on the front seat?"

"Because I actually like him," Jane said half jokingly, as she held the door open for her friends so that they could all come along on the ride.

"Cut it out back there." Jane said, looking into the front mirror and watching Joey and Junior fighting for the space in the back seat and blocking her view from behind. Yugi _sweat-dropped_ next to Jane, surprised that she wasn't already expecting this.

"There's hardly any room" Lucia said, pinching Joey's leg to cause him to flinch away from her. She and Link were the most uncomfortable, pushed up against each other almost as badly as they were from the winter twister night. Link looked away and out the window, trying to conceal his blushing and mentally reminding him to be cool, as Drew would.

Lucia took advantage of Link's turned away gaze and stared at him. She never really had the chance to just look at him and notice details because...she was too shy to look him in the eye when he was looking back. While the others had their own conversation, she blushed, and pulled her head back like a turtle, trying to play it off. But Link looked more handsome now than she's ever noticed. He had the smoothest skin she's ever seen and his jaw line had sharpened recently, coming out of his teenage features. His eyes were a piercing deep blue against the lightness of his hair and skin and every time he blinked, she shuttered.

"Hm?" He turned to her when he noticed her gaze was in his direction. Lucia blushed.

"Hm?" She said back. Link blinked twice, forgetting their closeness.

"Is there something on my face?" Link asked, immediately sending him to a flash back: _Waiting in the car for Yami and Jane with Diana, who he also caught staring at him._ The memory used to be a happy one, but now... it was causing another migraine!

"Grunt,-" Link shut his eyes, pressing his head against the window in attempts to cool it down.

"Are you alright?" Lucia asked, worried. Link grunted again, completely confused and rubbing his forehead roughly with the back of his blue gloves. He thought these were over with, why are they still coming back?

"It's...my head..." Link said through his teeth, slightly looking up and revealing his eyes giving off red flashes. Lucia's eyes widened and began calling the others right away.

"Guys! Look! I told you!" She said, hitting Joey in the arm and kicking Jane's seat. "Link's eyes are turning red!"

"Lucia!" Jane complained, keeping her eyes on the road, "I'm a bad enough driver as it is!"

Junior turned away from Joey to look at Link but by the time he did, Link's eyes have settled.

"There's nothing there." He said with a raised brow. Lucia looked back, hovering her hand over Link in panic as his struggle against his migraine began to ease.

"But, he-"

"Lucia, how many times are we going to have to discuss your drinking problem?" Jane joked.

Lucia sighed in frustration as Link came to. He blinked a few times to ease the sudden burn in his eyes and turned to Lucia.

"It's passed," He paused, "I don't get what brought that on..."

"Yeah," Lucia said in worry, "All you did was ask me if there was something on your face."

Link chuckled slightly as he leaned against the window to recover. "Yeah. You still haven't answered."

Lucia blushed. "There's nothing on your face. It's just I never seen you this close before, thanks to being squished right now."

Lucia lightly laughed and Link smiled. When he asked Diana the same question, he recalled her respond being cold with all her walls up. Lucia was completely open about herself. Listening to her is always so easy-he never has to question if she's being true or not and it really gave him peace of mind.

Link shrugged.

"Well there isn't much to see." He said, closing his eyes. Lucia's smile vanished.

"That's not true!" She defended his confidence like the friend she is. Link opened one eye.

"Why not?" He said, teasing her. Lucia blushed and looked away form Link, twiddling her fingers.

"Well...I mean...You know...your...you have a nice face." Lucia managed to say. Link blinked and blushed.

"O-oh..." He said, then looked outside the window again.

"Don't get too close," Joey said, who was eaves dropping with the others. Junior laughed and Link grunted in embarrassment.

***

At the event, Link was sitting down against one of the trees, the heels of his feet against his butt as his arms were crossed over his bent knees as he watched everyone go _gaga_ over the Vocaloids. He turned and looked up to see Yami leaning against the tree and holding a bottle of water to him. The blond elf pulled off his gloves, resting them on his legs and took the bottle, unscrewing the lid.

"You didn't have to, y'know," Link said.

"You're welcome," Yami said implying a _thank you_ from Link as he already started drinking from the bottle. He wiped away the excess water with the back of his hand before replying. "I'm certain that something seems to be causing you discomfort," Yami said and Link turned away.

"Yeah well, the same goes for you. Last night wasn't your most historical moment..." he commented softly, playing with his tunic.

"Not the topic right now, Link." Yami's voice stayed the same but his choice of words were showing slight annoyance.

"Sure," Link quickly dropped it, knowing as a man it wasn't easy to reflect on moments of weakness, in fact the king's third eye reacted and caused him to became worried. He leaned against the tree without looking at Link, just as he did for him in the rain and cleared his throat.

"We've had our fair share of conversations and some how, we've never truly spoken about you." Yami said, trying to return the favour for helping him at his worst, "Is there something you'd like to discuss?"

Link was silent for a bit, looking back up at Miku surrounded by the lights and photographers while the others were hanging back.

"Do you think Lucia isn't interested in me because I'm not a duelist?" he asked.

Yami kept his poker face on, but internally he was feeling completely unfit for sharing advice about woman. He sighed.

"Lucia is not of the judgmental variety. I can recall Lucia stating that she admires your many skills in multiple fields, in fact, one of her favourite duel monsters is-," Yami said, trying to help in any way that he can.

"No, I know. She likes magicians." Link put down the water bottle and put back on his gloves.

"I was going to say the Celtic Guardian," Yami corrected. "For obvious reasons..."

Link sighed.

"I know..." He said, dissatisfied.

The Pharaoh turned his head to look at the male, watching him rip the grass from the ground with harsh eyes filled with thoughts of a woman. Eyes that were too familiar.

"Have you told her of your passions?" Yami asked, genuinely curious. Len sighed.

"I don't really know if I have them yet." He answered regretfully.

"Perhaps you should let her know they may be there," The Pharaoh explained.

"You think?" Link considered, "That would be so awkward."

Yami closed his eyes. Link was afraid of being pushed away from her. He understood that all too well.

"Link, rejection is always a positive incremental investment on your dues," Yami said, "And, in some way, it will be translated back into your life."

Link remained quiet, agreeing with him however still unsure if he should risk it. The Pharaoh sighed and spoke again,

"Perhaps I should take my own advice." He said, positioning his arm on his knee. Link looked at the Pharaoh.

"You weren't _really_ rejected." Link said halfheartedly. Yami snickered sarcastically.

"Worse. I was encouraged." He said, "I would have had a much easier time getting over a rejection from a maiden who had disinterest rather than moving on from one who had the opportunity to love me but chose not to."

"Well when you put it that way..." Link said, stretching out his legs on the ground, "I look weak."

Yami smiled. "Not weak. Just fortunate." He said, loosening the belt on his neck, "Don't put off to tomorrow what you can do today. Before you know it, Lucia will be involved with someone else and then you'll never have the chance to tell her how you truly feel. She has been spending a lot of time with her new instructor..."

Link grunted, surprised that the Pharaoh hadn't yet picked up on his charade. He was so distracted with Jane that he was paying less attention to everyone else.

"But what about you?" Link asked, "Aren't you scared you might never get over her? Do you think there's someone else out there that will make you as happy as she did?"

"Not if I lived another 5000 years." He answered quickly, "But I have been finding an alternative method to forget."

Link blinked. "Really? What's that?"

"I've acquired some help recently." Yami started.

"Oh? What do you mean, like a shrink?" Link blinked and Yami shook his head.

"Not exactly. This man is going to find me an unconventional solution to putting Jane in my past. It may cost me, but I find it may be worth any price." Yami said, saying it almost as though he was second guessing these plans. Link raised a brow, curiously.

"Who's the guy?" He asked bluntly. Yami looked at him, trusting that he wont share the information with anyone. And with that look, Link understood without it having to be spoken.

" Mr. Gold." He said.

Meanwhile...

"Hey so…" Lucia nervously pressed her index fingers together. "Is Kaito around?"

Jane rolled her eyes.

"Such a fan girl," She said, beginning to remove her braid.

"Owe!" Kaito sat up suddenly and looked up to see Mai standing over him. "What?" he grabbed his hat, putting it on over his dark blue hair. "Is Miku done yet?" he glanced around, sleepily blinking.

"No," Mai said and the older male seemed unamused.

"Then why'd you wake me up?"

"Because you have company," Mai gestured with her thumb to where Lucia was nervously standing beside Jane, gripping onto her friend's arm so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

"Oh," he stood up then and brushed the fallen sakura petals from his dark blue pants then fixed his Senbonzakura outfit. "Does she want a picture?"

Mai shook her head. "You already met her, hun. Remember?"

"Oh." Kaito said again with small surprise and walked over to them, tipping his hat in motion. Lucia's grip tightened even more that Jane actually had to tell her to stop before she lost all feeling in the arm. She apologized, letting go of her arm and looked back to Kaito.

"So," Jane turned to the Pharaoh. "Were you planning on going home with us?"

Why does she even bother? Yami ignored her and instead turned to Yugi and Junior.

"There is a beautiful garden just over the hill," he told them. "Would you like to see it?"

Yugi looked at Jane then back at Yami.

"...Can Jane come along?"

"No," he responded almost immediately and Yugi nervously laughed.

"Ok, then." Yugi agreed taking Junior's hand and the two of them followed the Pharaoh. He looked to Jane apologetically once before fully committing to the king on their way. She huffed and glared at the three of them, more specifically Yami and crossed her arms across her chest, her lips turning into a pout.

While Lucia was screaming over Kaito's Senbonzakura outfit, being the huge fangirl that she was, Link watched with a look of distaste on his face.

"Don't like that Lucia is paying attention to someone else?" Mai began, hoping to spark something. Last time she attempted anything like this was a game of pokey to push him along with Diana. How amazing that time changes things so much.

"I don't mind. She's allowed to be excited over whoever she wants too," Link said and she giggled a bit.

"Well that's true, but you haven't moved that look from your face since she started," she pointed out.

Link looked away from the woman and back at Lucia who was wearing Kaito's hat now. This seemed to irritate him more.

"Why don't you ask her to explore the cherry blossoms with her? They're the most beautiful at this time of year, I am sure she'd love it."

"I don't know." Link said.

"It would get here away from Kaito," She said, "And you two can talk."

Link thought about this, resting his index finger on his lips in thought. It could work because right now, seeing her smiling like that made him feel uncomfortable? But would Lucia leave with him?

"I just might ahh but…" he turned back to her. "I may just take your advice." he grunted.

End of the day

"Mai!" Jane shouted and ran the small distance to where her long haired friend was. Mai turned from where she was taking a photo of the trees with her phone.

"What is it?" she asked, checking to make sure the picture came out properly then slipped her phone into her purse.

"Link just came over to Lucia and bluntly asked her if she'd join him to check out the cherry blossoms." Jane said seductively and put her hands on Mai's shoulders, "There's something I wanted to talk to you about, too." She said, pulling out her phone. "Let's go to this with Lucia."

Mai blinked twice, looking and the photo of the add on Jane's pink phone.

"Do you think the guys would be into something like this?" She asked.

"Let's go," Jane paused, "Without them."

 **A/N: SO Originally, parts of this chapter was written by an outside friend for fun so that's why there's some fluff in there with Vocaloids, but aside from that stuff, the important thing to note was the appearance of Mr. Gold. Do you guys watch Once Upon A Time? (Watch if you havent, you'll love it) What do you think will take part with the influence of the Dark One? What does this mean for their universe!?**


	11. Vol 2 Ch 4: Red Iris and Shattered Glass

" _I've acquired some help recently." Yami started._

* * *

 ** _Savannah Georgia ~ FORwarD Sequel_**

 _Volume 2 – Chapter 4:_ _"_ _Red Iris and Shattered Glass._ _"_ _  
An Evening at the Stables  
Link and Lucia  
_ _Narrator's P.O.V_

It wasn't the usual lesson at the Savannah Georgia Stables. Link brought her in, tolerated the usual commentary by Ash and his questions of his other friend, and even had lunch with him and Lucia that was...strange. Lucia had already began to master a simple strut on her horse as _Drew_ observed her progress nearby on Emmett. He smiled, knowing that they had been riding much past their appointed time but was hesitant to tell her so as he was enjoying his time teaching the girl. He laughed when her horse sneezed and frightened her.

"You alright?" He asked. Lucia retrieved control of the small horse and chuckled.

"Yeah! I lost my balance there." She said, walking around some more. She was becoming a natural already and definitely looked the part as she had on a black riding hat that matched her black tank top and white jean shorts. Link pursed his lips when he decided to test Lucia's skills, confident that they were ready for the next stage. He kicked his heal on his towering black horse and jogged across the field, hopping the fence outside of the training area and positioning the horse on his back legs to show off. He looked back at the field and saw a surprised Lucia.

"Come on," He called, "Let's take these guys out of their cage for a while."

Lucia blinked. "Uh," She stuttered, trying to erase all inappropriate thoughts that were caused from what she witnessed, "I didn't know we were going to leave the fields today."

She stalled what she knew she had to do and Link shook his head, squinting in the darkness of the evening to see through his tinted goggles he refuses to remove.

"Lucia..." He said nonchalantly.

Lucia blinked again, looking down at her horse. "You want me to...hop the fence?" She said, "I don't know..."

"I know your skill level, Lucia. You can do it," He paused, "You'll be fine."

Lucia positioned her horse to pace backwards to give herself a running start-something she has never done before. She doubted herself but with Drew waiting across the fence that way, positioned on his stallion with a hand over his hip like a confident pro, she had to have enough skill to make a believer out of him.

She gulped her dry throat once and kicked the back of her horse, sending it at a jog as she fiercely held on for her life. The small horse pushed his back legs and kicked the ground, leaping like what felt like slow motion to Lucia as it came to a smooth and perfect landing near Drew and Emmett. The horse slowed down its pace after a few struts and Lucia just blinked, heavily breathing and clenching the leather strap as though she was still in the air. Link laughed.

"That was great!" He complimented, "I knew you could do it."

Lucia smiled sheepishly before taking in what occurred and she slightly hoped in place. "YES!"

She cheered. Link rolled his eyes.

"Come on, there is a really gorgeous spring near a bridge not too far from here, the horses could use the break. I've never been there at night, but I bet the crickets will be rewarding for your hard day." He said, kicking the horse and leading the way. Lucia stuttered before copying him and wondered how a quiet evening by the chirp of crickets sounded like something Link would truley appreciate it. Then she remembered: Today was the perfect opportunity to bring up Link and ask Drew to give him that job.

Because it was past most working hours of Savannah Georgia, Link and Lucia took their horses down the path in a jog having to worry about few pedestrians. When they turned a corner near a green filled street, they came onto a gorgeous spring that formed from a beaver damn in the river, surrounded by trees: the entire habitat had privacy. There was an abandoned paddle boat floating near the bridge that arched into a deeper part of the forest. There were ducks floating around in the clear water above the swirling koi fish that frightened the neighbouring tadpoles and frogs. But most of all, just as Drew predicted, the crickets were louder than ever, happily singing their evening song.

Link guided Emmett near the edge of the spring and hopped off the beast effortlessly. He slapped the black horse's behind, sending him to a jog around the area to allow him some freedom to explore and rest. Lucia tried to do the same, but still dismounted her horse steadily and kindly pet it's side before walking to Drew and joining him by the water. She stood there silently with her hands behind her back.

"...maybe they aren't so relaxing." Link joked to the extremely loud echo of the whistling bugs.

Lucia smiled while watching Drew to make certain he had nothing else to say.

"So..." Lucia said, fiddling with her nails, "Ash really wants to get at my friend Jane, huh?"

Link laughed. "You think? He's already tried everything he can to convince me to get her to take the same lessons as yours with him."

"Wow, I almost feel bad for him. But isn't he too...over booked to be teaching private lessons?" Lucia wondered. Link nodded, slipping a gloved hand into his pockets.

"Looks like he's willing to put in over time." He said. Lucia's eyes lit up.

"Maybe he should hire more help," She suggested, "Then he can have the time to teach Jane."

Lucia felt bad using her friend as bait to get Link the job but she knew Jane would forgive her.

"Like who? There aren't that many riders in this town qualified enough to teach a class." Link said, forgetting his character role for a single moment.

"Yes there is, I told you about my friend Link, remember?" Lucia reminded and the hylian stuttered.

"Duh," He grunted, "You mean...that really _amazing_ friend of yours?" He quoted. Lucia blushed.

"That's the one. Can't you guys just see how he rides some time? He will blow you away." Lucia said, fearing to sound rude and quickly adding, "Not to say that you guys aren't also amazing!"

Link smirked. How long was he going to keep up the Drew persona? He was going to have to start thinking of an alternative before he's backed into a corner and discovered in the wrong way that could upset Lucia. "I'll talk to Ash."

"Really!?" Lucia jumped happily. Link smiled with his teeth and chuckled.

"Yeah, really." He said, "I can't promise anything but-"

"Thank you, Drew!" Lucia said, quickly throwing herself at the instructor and embarrassing him with high levels of appreciation. Link was stunned at first, but when he felt her warmth against his vest he instinctively wrapped his arms around her petite figure and returned the gesture. And for some reason, this contact didn't make him feel shy or timid. It felt natural to hug her back.

Suddenly a shimmer came into Link's view which he had found odd considering the tint of his goggles. He loosened his grip on the girl and looked up at the spring. Lucia noticed this and pulled away as well, turning around and following Drew's gaze. There, emerging from the forest, was a swarm of glowing lights awakening from the darkness of the trees, all reflecting their shine against the water. Lucia's reaction was ecstatic, however Link's was not.

"Fireflies...?" He grunted.

 ** _"_ _Because the light emits from the inside." I told her as she took the firefly into her own palm. She smiled a bit which was what I wanted...and then I blushed when she did, I think.  
(FORwarD Book 3 Ch 3)_**

"Aren't they beautiful?" Lucia said smiling. "Drew?"

Link was beginning to shake, doing the best he could to keep his persona being the vicious sudden pain in his head. It was the worst struck yet that it felt like all of the blood in his body was burning and rushing behind his eyes. He was beginning to worry as this wasn't the norm. He grunted in the pain, holding his face while tumbling to the ground and scratching at the dirt.

"Drew! What's wrong!?" Lucia panicked. "Do I call an ambulance? Are you ok?"

Link's body was beginning to feel hotter and his vision was blurring. He was more worried over blowing his cover than anything else, so he did the best he could to let out a whistle, calling both of the horses their way. "Nngh...No. It's alright I just," Link said, blindly guiding Lucia toward her horse. "Get on."

"But-" Link didn't let Lucia protest as he effortlessly pushed her body up on the horse with his heros strength.

"Go back to the stable, I'll meet you there." He said in a growl. Lucia grabbed the leather straps and picked up on her balance.

"Drew! What about you? I'm worried! Are you ok?" She hesitated. Link's pain was increasing.

"Hyah!" He said, slapping her horses behind as it nayed violently, rushing out of the spring with Lucia on her back. Lucia looked behind her while riding as Drew dissapeared from sight, thinking that his _Hyah_ sounded much too familiar..

When Lucia was gone Link collapsed on the floor, crawling to the water and removing his gloves. He forced off his hat and goggles before splashing some fresh water onto his bare face to cool off. He squinted into the water, trying to make out his reflection through the red tint that possessed his vision.

"Ghrr, but why..." Link said as the water settled, "Why must memories of her do this to me?"

When the water was still again, Link took a look at his reflection and he was stunned at what he was seeing. He brushed his fingers through his hair when he noticed it had lightened in shade but the strangest thing of all was the glow of his burning red eyes, shining in the water like submersible strobe lights. He blinked in shock. Was he being possessed by some sort of evil emissary? Link slapped the water and sighed. What was the meaning of this? Why was this happening? If this gets out of control, he may have to consult the Pharaoh about the shadow realm.

* * *

 **The House**

 _Yami, Jane, Joey and Yugi_

"Urgh. Yep, she's throwin' up again." Joey reported as he returned from the main floor washroom to the main hall by the front door where Yami and Yugi stood. "She must have caught something from somewhere."

The Pharaoh sighed. What are the chances for Jane to be sick while everyone else had business to attend to? All but she and himself. Yami leaned on his heal, both hands in his pockets with his thumbs hanging out as he watched Joey. "And you'll be going, I assume?"

Joey slipped his wallet into his jeans. "Yah, sorry Pharaoh. I can't really stick around, Mai's already at the wedding rehearsal and I'm late enough as it is. I wont be long. Tell Jane I hope she feels betta."

The Pharoah sighed in discontent as Yugi hung the chain with the millennium puzzle over his neck, prepared to return with Joey. "Will you be alright here on your own, Pharaoh?"

Yami faked a smile, "Of course."

Yugi frowned. "No one will be home for another hour or two..." He reminded. Yami knew that Yugi was suggesting for him to go with him to Domino City with them to avoid being home with Jane alone but, he would never feel comfortable leaving her alone in this condition. He wouldn't feel comfortable leaving _any_ of his friends alone in this condition.

"It will be fine, Yugi." He said, "Send Rebecka and my regards."

Yugi smiled as the puzzle glowed a goodbye. He vanished.

Yami groaned when he was alone and rubbed his forehead with his right hand as he decided that he would only be around in case of the worst. Jane was an adult, she could handle herself even in times of sickness.

As he faced away from the door, Jane emerged from the washroom, shutting the door loudly and coming into view. Her hair was in a messy bun, her died blond hair only in the knot, she was in comfortable tights and a loose t-shirt with her mermaid socks, face flushed and she held her stomach as she walked past him.

"I'll just go upstairs so I don't gross you out." She said, starting at the stairs. She knew he didn't want anything to do with her now, so she was in a hurry to get away.

"Stop right there," Yami said in his deep voice, almost annoyed with himself for predictably caving. Jane turned around and he walked up to her, pressing his hand on her forehead in silence.

"Hmm," He said, allowing his third eye to glow. "Does your head hurt?"

"No..."

"Chest pains?"

"No..." Jane was nervous with Yami starring so hard and pressing his hand on her neck to read her temperature.

"What have you eaten today?"

"Nothing out of the usual." Jane said before coughing.

Yami kept his poker face when he noticed red blotches forming on her cheeks.

"You likely consumed something that you're allergic too." He explained, "You'll be fine in the morning."

The Pharaoh pulled away. "Prepare for rest, I'll bring you something to aid your sleep."

As Jane began dragging her feet, the Pharaoh went into the kitchen to see what medication they had left from Diana's purchase since Link was sick. He mentally told himself to be in and out of Jane's room quickly to avoid self torture while, luckily, finding some knock out stuff that treats nausea. He took just enough, and prepared a glass of water before making his way up stairs.

Jane groaned on her bed, kicking off her pajama pants due to a sudden heat flash as she waited for Yami and shoved herself under the covers like a caterpillar. His hospitality just made her feel even more guilty as she didn't feel deserving of it. However, her desire to feel better currently over powered any other emotion.

As Yami pushed the door open with his back, Jane pondered how she got sick in the first place.

"Here." He said, sitting on the edge of her bed as Jane sat up straight and took the pills. Yami held the glass and _sweat-dropped_ when he noticed Jane's pants on the ground. And yet, despite the torture, taking care of her felt better than anything else. "Will you be alright on your own?"

 _Sure,_ this wasn't as bad as her dreaded few weeks of him ignoring her.  
Jane looked at the yellow and red round pills in her palm, the clock on the wall ticking incredibly loud in the silence while trying to keep positive. She's already attempted to receive forgiveness from the Pharaoh but it was clear from his silent treatment that it wasn't happening. She smiled, hoping to imply friendship at least.

"I'm a tough cookie," She said reaching for the glass, "Come what may."

 ** _"Come...what...may..."  
(FORwarD Book 2 Ch 4)_**

And as Jane touched his hand on the glass, the Pharaoh flinched with wide eyes, loosing grip on the clear cup and letting it hit the ground as it shattered into pieces of what felt like his heart.

"I'm sorry." Jane said, feeling the need to apologize even though it wasn't she who dropped the glass. Yami's response time was slow as her comment had sent him flash backs to his first moments of falling in love. He clenched his fist tightly that once help the cup and did all that he could to hold back as he could feel himself drowning in love for her still.

"I'll take care of it," Yami struggled to say in an almost whisper as a dark shadow shielded his eyes from Jane's vision. He began carefully picking up the pieces of the glass, collecting them into a palm off of the damp carpet and taking them to the girls washroom, accidentally cutting himself on a piece as he tossed them in the trash. He didn't give the cut a second thought as he grabbed Jane's blue plastic cup from her sink and filled it with cold tap water.

When he returned, it took all of his power to avoid looking her in the eye as he placed the cup on her night table rather then giving it to her directly. "Please excuse me," He said as he walked stiffly out of her room and shutting the door behind him.

Jane sighed in worry when she noticed his blood on the side of her cup.

In the hall, he stood outside her room in silence, leaning against the door feeling weak. He literally felt as though a giant piece of him stayed with her and he felt worse and worse as he tries to return to the independent Pharaoh he was before knowing her. She is part of him and he needs her. A piece of him he wished he didn't.

The pulse from the cut in his palm, even if small, was some excuse for feeling pain.

Yami snapped out of his depression when he heard the front door open. He hoped it was one of his best friends Link coming home however, when he reached the top of the slightly spiraled staircase, he was dissapointed to find Lucia locking the door behind her. When she noticed him, she waved.

"Good evening, Pharaoh." She said. Yami began his way to the main floor and stopped a few steps in front of Lucia.

"How was your lesson?" He asked. He liked Lucia, but he admitted to himself that he was about to use her as a pawn for distraction.

"Weird." She said, "But I learned to jump."

"Weird? How so?" Yami asked. He still wasn't sure why Lucia payed money for lessons rather than train with Link or himself, but that wasn't his concern right now.

Lucia found it odd that the Pharaoh had a sudden interest in her lessons. Then it hit her, it had to be related to Jane some how. It usually always is.

"Well, my instructor had a bit of an episode," Lucia summarized, feeling worried about Drew and removing her jacket. "Is there any dinner left?"

Yami blinked when he realized his stress caused him to forget to eat. He cleared his throat.

"I'm afraid not. No one has been home to start," He paused before gesturing to Lucia, "Come, let's have something now."

Lucia followed the Pharaoh into the kitchen and watched him in confusion as he turned on the lights.

"How many lessons are remaining?" Yami asked for the sake of conversation as he opened the high doors to reach for cans of tuna. He noticed he was still bleeding and turned on the faucet with cold water, running his palm under it and pretended to be washing his hands so Lucia wouldn't question it.

Lucia pushed on her toes to reach the stool of the island and slid comfortably, watching Yami blindly stare at the tuna cans in his tough, damp hands in thought.

"Is this about Ash always hitting on Jane?" Lucia suspected. Yami _sweat-dropped_ as he grabbed the can opener. _No...but thank you for that_ , he thought sarcastically.

"Pardon?" He said coldly, trying not to get upset but failing. What's next with Jane?

"Ash," Lucia repeated, "Drew's coworker. He's always tryna get Jane to go with me over there and any time he sees her, he asks her out."

Lucia wondered if she should be telling the Pharaoh this as his biceps stiffened upon opening the can. It wasn't difficult to do, that reaction was purely anger resistance. And no matter how much he pretends not to be interested, he was curious to know more.

"And...how does she respond?" He asked, wondering if asking for details was a bad idea, grabbing plates and setting them down on the island.

"Don't worry, she always turns him down and tells him she's already taken." Lucia said to make him feel better. It didn't. Yami knew that the partner to which she was referring was not him. He only wished that she offered him the same courtesy as she did when Ash pursued her. So much for using Lucia as a distraction.

"Mind giving me a hand?" He said, referring to the sandwiches and Lucia's eyes widened.

"Oh! Of course," She said, hopping off the stool and rushing to the fridge for mayo.

* * *

 **Back at the Stables**

 _Link and Ash_

"Remind me again why Jane wont take lessons?" Ash asked and Link heavily sighed, hanging his hat and goggles with the others on the uniform rack.

"Because she has friends who can ride, Ash! How many times do I have to tell you this?" Link said, shuffling his hair. He had recovered from his recent migraine and hoped that Lucia didn't make the connection with himself and Drew.

"Oh yea," Ash said, copying Link and removing his hat. "Then answer me something else, _Drew_ , when are you going to tell your crush who you are?"

Link stuttered, "I-I never said I had a crush on the girl."

Ash snorted. "Ok. Sure, normal people do what you do to people they _don't_ like."

"Shut up, Ash." Link said with a grin, walking out of the stables with him to bring the horses inside. He still wore his riding uniform as he didn't want to risk messing up his hero garments.

"Let's go!" Ash yelled at the horses, clapping his hands and whistling to the trained creatures while Link jogged around the field, guiding them back indoors. Upon success, he walked back toward Ash, removing his vest and throwing it at his friend.

"When's your next shift?" He asked. "I'll cover it."

Ash rolled his eyes, folding the vest. "You've been taking on too many hours for your own good, Link. Take a vacation."

"Link!?" A voice said coming nearby. Both Link and Ash turned to find the source of the voice and they found a tall, dark haired man, leaning on the fence with his forearms wearing dark black pants, a red tank top and a very recognizable dice earring. His eyes glowed in the dark, and with that devious pose, it could only be one person.

"Uh," Link stuttered, realizing he was still partially in uniform and his secret was out. "Hey, Duke."

"I didn't know you worked at the stables?" Duke said excitedly, "Cool."

"I...just started here." He lied.

"No you- ow!" Ash said when he was back handed by Link in the stomach.

"What brings you here, Duke?" Link asked half annoyed, walking toward the dice master.

"I wanted to check out the place Lucia has been visiting so frequently, you know, check what it is about this place that attracts cute woman," Duke explained, chuckling. "So...how much for a lesson?"

Link chuckled. "For you? I don't know, you'll have to come in during hours and talk to the owner."

Duke blinked, "K. Why didn't you tell us you got work here, man? Isn't Lucia taking lessons here?"

Ash laughed and Link grunted. "Is she?" He conjured an excuse and Duke raised a brow.

"...Yeah, remember...her new friend Drew is her-" Duke stopped when he remembered Lucia's description, how Link has been taking on extra shifts at his job and couldn't make the spring fair...it was all becoming clear. "Aw dude..."

"What?" Link crossed his arms, keeping cool. Duke smirked and raised an eyebrow seductively.

"Have you and Lucia been making up this _Drew_ crap to sneak around in private to get it in?"

"What? NO!" Link grunted surprised. "That's hardly it!"

"Just _hardly_?" Duke emphasized. Link growled and grabbed Duke by the redness of his shirt.

"Don't twist my words around." He said annoyed. Duke's brows dropped. _Sensitive, I see._

"Why do you always get physical with people?" Duke asked when he was already half way over the fence due to the Hylians strength. Link blinked and put Duke down, crossing his arms again. Duke grinned, leaning against the fence again.

"So what _is_ the story then?" Duke asked with his bright curious eyes. Ash leaned in next to Duke as well, just as curious to hear the story he already knew. He was just interested in watching Link humiliate himself. Link grunted, and pushed him to the side.

"Get lost, Ash. We're off the clock." He said and Ash laughed.

"Duke, huh?" Ash acknowledged. "Tell your friend Jane to give me a call!"

And as Ash went back inside the stables, Link rolled his eyes again. He likes Ash, but sometimes he can be such a-

"So?" Duke interrupted his thoughts, "What's the story, Link?"

Link looked at the man and sighed. His secret has been discovered and there was nothing he could say to convince Duke that it wasn't what it appeared to be. Duke was the last person he wanted to confide in, but he had no choice. Looks like Lucia will be learning the truth sooner than planned.

"I'm Drew." He confessed. Duke smiled.

"I know." He said, "It's obvious now. Why did you make up an identity?"

Link grunted, "I don't know, It just happened. Lucia came to the stables and didn't recognize me and it felt good being someone different for a change."

The boy tilted his head, "So you've been teaching Lucia all this time? Why did you keep up the lie so long?"

"I wanted to tell her, but the right time hasn't come up yet."

"What do you mean? Just tell her. Who cares?" Duke suggested carelessly.

"I can't just do that, she'll be upset with me." Link defended. Duke shrugged.

"Just for a day or two. So what? She'll get over it." he said. After a moment of silence Duke understood and broke his lean. "Unless...you like her?"

Link grunted. "I don't know! I sort of wanted _Drew_ to find out but, he wasn't successful. Not that it's any business of yours."

Duke _sweat-dropped_ when Link spoke of himself in a third person but laughed.

"How do you not know? Does she make you feel different from other girls?" Duke questioned. Link thought about the girls he sees most: Mai and Jane. Mai isn't really his type, so it's a no for her. As for Jane, Link never let himself even _think_ about her as just a close friend, never mind as a potential partner out of respect for the Pharaoh. So she's a no as well. Though...Diana...he wasn't sure.

"She does...but I am sort of having a hard time putting someone in my past." Link said.

"Diana?" Duke guessed. Link blinked.

"Watch it." Link said, still heavily uncomfortable talking about Diana again with Duke for the first time since she left. Especially since Duke had taken her out a few times.

"Relax, Link. She's gone, so it's not like I can try anything with her anymore." Duke said. Link gave him a dirty look and Duke threw his hands up defensively.

"I wont go near Lucia! I promise!" He said fast and loud.

Link grunted as though to infer a threat if Duke didn't stay by that promise.

"You seem more defensive of Lucia, I will say. You even went as far to be Drew for her," Duke said as Link sighed. "So why is it that it's so hard for you to drop Diana, anyway? She left."

Link squinted at the memory. "Yeah...that's why it's hard to get over it. I couldn't understand her and knowing I never will is so...irritating."

"What do you mean?"

"She was...odd. She never believed you when you complimented her. She was always jealous of everyone, she thought she was worth less as a person and she had really strange beliefs and traditions...I know she was interested in me but for some reason when I tried to get close to her, she did everything she could to push me away. I tried to help her when she was down and try to understand and then..." Link paused, "She and Jane had this little fight and she completely blew it out of proportion, ignoring everything we did for- everything _I_ did for you her and dragged the rest of us down. She loved Junior so much but she left him. She loved Joey so much and left him. She loved Jane so much and left her. She loved me so much and left me."

Duke listened to Link's story and snorted. "Sounds to me like you're being held back from confusion, not love."

Link raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"...You know, I didn't understand how you were the same guy that the girls described from your games in this world. But I think I get it. From your story, you didn't say once that you liked this girl. You only mentioned how confusing she was. I think your yearn to understand is holding you back when it shouldn't." Duke explained, "Stop caring so much. She's gone. You never knew why she was the way she was and you never will. Get over it and focus your attention on better things. Like telling Lucia who you are..." Duke paused, "And growing a courageous pair to match what you represent, you idiot."

Link laughed lightly to how Duke worded his statement. Although easier said then done, he was absolutely right, as much as he hated to admit that, and Link was ashamed that he had to understand himself from someone he resented for over a year now.

"You're right, man." Link said, happy that this talk didn't trigger a migraine. "I just need the perfect set up to tell Lucia...hopefully without upsetting her for lieing."

"You don't know anything about girls, do you?" Duke said, "Haven't you met Lucia?"

Link grunted and Duke continued, "She has the kindest heart I've ever known - not to mention the hots for you, because I've been subtle, but the day Lucia gets mad at you is the day the Pharaoh's beat."

Link blushed, "Lucia hasn't showed any sign of being interested in me."

Duke smiled. How obvious it was that Link was crushing. He would love to have made advances on Lucia, but he didn't want to home wreck the guy twice. "Link. Both girls living in that house wouldn't mind a piece of you. I actually envy your popularity."

Link flushed when he was given inappropriate thoughts of himself in between the two beautiful girls from home. He rubbed his head, quickly erasing his imagination.

"Envy?" Link questioned.

"Sure, if I were you, I'd target both of them. So when are you going to tell Lucia anyway?" Duke asked.

"I don't know...is there someone you're into, Duke?"

"Forget it."

"Come on, Duke. I told you my story. Show some honour." Link insisted. Duke sighed.

"I might have my eye on someone..." Duke explained, "Are we going to stand here all night, by the way?"

Link ignored Duke's attempt to change the subject and took off his uniform shirt. "It's not Jane, right?"

Duke laughed, "She's hot, but she's carrying way too many strings to things I don't even want to think about." Duke said quickly.

Link laughed at the status of all his male friends with their relationship troubles, walking a few steps over where his duffel bag was dropped earlier and opened it up for his tunic.

"Ok, the day you tell this girl how you feel is the day I tell Lucia I'm Drew." Link proposed, changing in the dead of night.

"Hell no," Duke protested. "You first!"

Link grunted, "Why?!"

"Easy, I have three reasons. One, you're the freakin _Triforce of Courage_! Act on that! Two, I didn't lie to my girl like you did yours, and three. I barely know the chick! I just think she's hot. You have a way less chance of rejection than I do, man." Duke explained his reasoning in frustration, crossing his arms and blushing, evidently showing that he was very much jealous of Link's situation.

Link blinked. "Alright, fair enough. I'll tell Lucia the truth about Drew. I just need to think of when."

"Hmm..." Duke conjured while Link just had his boots left to put on from his original look. When he was dressed, he swung his bag over his shoulder and hopped the fence, beginning to walk in the direction of the town as Duke followed.

"You can go to the Spring _Masquerade_." Duke suggested, "You know that party that Savannah Georgia is hosting? I don't know, something bout in honour of this towns history."

Link blinked. "I haven't heard of it."

"Well it's perfect considering the theme. You can go as Drew and break it to her slowly." Duke said, "You can even make it cheasy, girls love that romantic stuff."

" _Cheasy?_ You mean like, chivalrous?" Link raised a brow. Duke shrugged.

"Yeah, open doors for her and all. I have to say, this whole thing sort of reminds me of a gender bend Cinderella." Duke laughed at his own observation but Link did not. He has never heard of this _Cinderella_.

"So should I invite her to this thing as Drew? Like a...date?" Link struggled to say and Duke smiled.

"The girls are already going together, though I think they want to go alone." Duke remembered, "I remember Mai saying that's what Jane wanted."

Then Link smiled, nearly jumping in excitement.

"I'll surprise her there! Then I can court her before I tell her who I am." Link said and the two grabbed each others hand like men.

"Yes! Now you're thinking _cheasy_!" Duke praised. Link smiled.

"Thanks, Duke. I..uh...appreciate this." He said strangely sincerely as they walked though the town. He hadn't really gotten to know Duke on a deeper level due to their failure to getting along until now and he was glad to see that there was a deeper person underneath the jokes and the lech. Duke nodded back as his _you're welcome_.

"Sure, then when it's all over, you can melt that _cheese_ and finally fuck her like you've been dieing to." Duke added. Link _sweat-dropped. Way to ruin the moment,_ Duke.

* * *

 **A/N: Sooooo, the Come What May scene really melted my heart, I almost teared up as I wrote it. Yami is clearly really hurt and something has to be done pronto or he'll never recover. As for Link, the secret's out. Though he bonded a bit with Duke, things are still awkward and, for some reason, Link still will not trust him completely. Hopefully the Masquerade goes well and he can finally tell Lucia the truth. Thanks for reading!**


	12. Vol 2 Ch 5: Confessions of Masqueradeds

**A/N: We have music in this chapter! "Endlessly". You may wanna play it in the back ground for dramatic effect when the time comes!  
**

* * *

 **Savannah Georgia ~ FORwarD Sequel**

 _Volume 2 – Chapter 5:_ _"Confessions of the_ _Masqueraded._ _"_

One Week Later  
 _End of March, nearing April_

 _During this week, everyone went on about life as usual. Going to work or school, having dinner together and tolerating the awkward tension in the house considering everyone recently sharing secrets. There was minimal communication and Joey and Mai did not visit as frequently. Lucia focused on her school work and Jane kept herself distracted by helping her and working for her business. Link went to work as usual and spending his evenings with his little brother or visiting friends in Hyrule. Yugi spent the majority of his week with Joey in Battle City with Rebecka when he wasn't watching Junior or talking to Yami. As for the Pharaoh, he had been avoiding being home all together, trying to do the best he could over his broken heart. He worked as much as he was able and when he couldn't, he joined Yugi in their realm or went into the town with , casually discussing possible solutions to helping the Egyptian King put Jane behind him._

All in all, the week flew by and it was finally time for the girls to go on their retreat to the Masquerade. They were not ready at all as they lost track of the days and everyone could feel their last minute stress, including the men in the house.

"We got Chinese," Duke said upon entering the large home after several days of absence. As soon as he came in with Mai, she threw off her healed boots and rushed up the stairs to the girls room. Duke did not react to this, as Mai's abnormality wasn't a suprise, and tossed the take out bags onto the Kitchen island for everyone to eat for a late lunch. Link followed him in, quick to grab his share and began packing it down fast. Duke smiled as he cracked his wooden chop sticks.

"Nervous?" Duke asked. Link grunted.

"Shut up." He said in paranoia of prying ears. Junior hopped in with Gumball, stretched his tiny arms as he struggled to reach the chair before Link grabbed him by the hoodie with one hand and did the deed for him. The mini hylian rummaged through the bag for a fortune cookie.

"What's a _masquerade ball?_ " Junior mispronounced.

"It's basically a formal ball but people wear disguises." Duke summarized between his bites of his veggie roll, "Where's Yugi and the Pharaoh?"

"Upstairs," Link said, "They just got back from Domino."

Junior grabbed the cookie and snapped it open as the men spoke about Yugi and the King's time in their realm. He shoved half the cookie in Gumballs mouth and helped himself to the other half while he stretched the tiny paper in his small fingers. His large eyes read the text, _tonight will be a night full of the unexpected._

Junior snapped a picture of his fortune and left it on the table when he hopped off the stool and raced his pig back to the girls room. He pushed the door open and ignored a tail wagging Little Link when he entered the room and watched Jane help Lucia into her dress and stop Luna from ripping it up.  
He snapped a picture.

"Are you sure this is dressy enough? I feel so plain next to you." Lucia commented to Jane, who was wearing her puffy navy blue ball gown, complimented with glitter on her chest that crept down into a big bow on her hip. Jane smiled.

"Just because it's puffy, doesn't mean you'll be plain. Your dress is so nice!" She said and Lucia examined her long purple dress that she had to hold up from dragging on the floor. It was all one colour except for the black band around her waist that tied in the back and extended down her back to the floor. It sparkled in the light and matched her black mask that she had bought. Because it was last minute, she hadn't had much shopping time however, the dress did look beautiful thanks to her curvaceous hips and all she had to do was style her hair.

"Ok, maybe I do look good," Lucia said sweetly, "Not like it matters, we're going to have a good time."

Lucia picked up her dress to walk at a quick pace into her washroom so she can fix her make up and hair. Jane also pulled on her bun to let her hair fall over her shoulders, that which has grown significantly the last few years, bringing her brown hair down to her back and her blond past her bottom. She put her sparkly white mask into her bag.

"Like a princess," Mai commented, "So like you."

Jane smiled. "What about you, Mai? What are you wearing?"

Mai hopped in excitment as she was waiting to be asked. "Well, I actually picked something up the last week with Serenity." She said, roughly pulling the zipper of her back pack to reveal an adorable pink feathery style masquerade set. It was multiple shades of pink with black feathers along the chest and mask. Jane immediately took the costume to hold out in front of her with a smile.

"Wow, you're wearing a costume?" She asked, "Why?"

Mai shrugged. "It's not really a costume, but it made me think of my Harpie and Lucia should have went with a theme too."

Jane sighed, in memory of his majesty. "Yeah, we sort of lost track of the days last week..." She paused and returned to the bird style dress, "Anyway, go ahead and put this on. I'm gunna fix my hair."

Mai left the room to change and made her way for the guest room to use the guest washroom inside and when she was out if sight, Junior blinked his large curious eyes at Jane who brushed her wavy hair in the mirror of the girls walk in closet. He walked over to her and stretched out his hand, lightly touching the puffy fabric of her dress.

Jane looked down from the corner of her eye as she faught the tangles. "Do you like it?"

Junior nodded. "It's pretty." He said. And after a moment of silence, Junior sighed and Jane put down her brush.

"What's wrong?" She asked the small boy, pulling her dress aside to have room to lean down to his level. Junior looked at Jane and frowned.

"I don't talk anymore because of my big brother." Junior said. Jane arched her eyebrows immensely confused.

"..I don't understand. What do you mean?" She asked him.

"I don't talk as much as before because of Link." He rephrased. Jane pushed the hoodie off of Junior's head to see his small face with more clarity.

"You mean before we moved?" She asked and Junior nodded. "Why does Link stop you from talking?"

"Because he said when I talk, I remind him of Diana..." Junior said, holding back a tear. Jane's eyes widened as she pulled Junior into her chest as he started to cry.

"Oh..." Jane said sadly, "No, Junior. Link didn't mean it like that." She explained, wishing he came to her sooner. "He didn't mean to make you stop talking."

"But when he remembers Diana, he gets sad." Junior said in between sniffs, "I don't want my big brother to be sad."

"Is that why you don't talk to Lucia or Yugi's friends very much either?" Jane wondered. Junior nodded in her arms.

"I don't want to be friends with them. They might leave too and then Link will be even sadder." Junior explained and Jane shut her eyes against the boys soft hair, feeling a horrible nostalgia of her earliest days with fiction in her life. Though she had to be the adult, so she pulled back and lifted Junior's chin up.

"Hey. What you do or say has nothing to do with Link's sadness." She explained, "You aren't the only reminder of Diana in this house, Junior. I am too. A big one. And so is Yugi, the Pharaoh and Joey...and even Duke. You shouldn't hold back how you feel in worry because we are all reminded of her every day, including your big brother."

Junior rubbed his eye, "I cry sometimes." He said, "About Dee. That's why it makes him sad. I try to hide it and sometimes he doesn't notice, but when he does, he gets angry with me."

Jane tried to smile, "He's not angry at you Junior, he's angry because he's frustrated. He wants to help you forget about her and he can't. And seeing you cry is another hard reminder and it hurts him too. I am sure he doesn't want you to hide how you feel."

"What can we do? How did you forget her so easy?" Junior asked, his tears beginning to dry. Jane sighed and shook her head.

"It wasn't easy, sweety. I'm sorry if I made it look that way." She said, standing up. Junior blinked as he tugged her dress.

"But you look like the Pharaoh." Junior explained and Jane raised a brow.

"I look like Yami?" She asked confused. Junior made the gesture for her to pick him up and she did.

"Yeah. You both look fine about Diana leaving." He explained. Jane assumed he was talking about Yami's famous poker face and she smiled.

"Oh, that's because Diana wasn't my first close friend to break my heart." She explained. Junior's eyes widened.

"She wasn't?" Junior said surprised. Jane closed her eyes longer than normal.

"Nope. In this world, people don't value friendship as much as they should. They treat friends like strangers - people who come and go. It's happened to me so many times, that I've become desensitized to the loss of a friend."

"That's awful," Junior said sadly, "Yugi says that you have to fight for your friends no matter what."

Jane smiled. _If only in this realm_ , she thought. "That's why he's so amazing." She said.

Junior hugged Jane, putting his small arms around her neck and playing with her hair. "You wont leave me, right?"

Jane hugged back. "Never," She said, "But Junior. The person you should trust most in this world is your big brother. You should tell him how you feel."

"No thanks," Junior said, "Link gets too sad. I'll just come to you."

Jane smiled. "Sure."

"And you can come to me about the Pharaoh if you want." He said with a smile, Jane nearly dropping him in suprise.

"What was that?" She blinked. Junior continued to play with her hair.

"Isn't that what makes _you_ sad? The Pharaoh? Just like Dee makes Link sad." He explained. Jane blinked twice realizing that, in a strange way, it was similar. That is, assuming that she and the Pharaoh will never have a relationship. _Assuming_. Why does she still have hope that they could have something beyond friendship after what she did to him? There was no hope now.

"You're right," She said, "But I don't need to talk about it."

"But your lucky though. Link can't do anything about Diana, but all you have to do is break up with Yuu and everything will be better."

"How did you-"

"Even Gumball knows." Junior explained and Jane sweat-dropped. _Wonderful_.

"I might," Jane said. "But I already made my choice."

Jane made a bad choice to cheat on Yuu in the first place. She made an even worse choice to spend time with Yuu when she knew that Yami was waiting for her. In her eyes, she didn't deserve either of them and when she breaks up with Yuu, it wont be to be with Yami. It will be to give Yuu his best chance.

"Ready, boys and girls?" Mai asked, coming back into the room dressed in her adorable short pink feathered dress. Jane's sadness vanished like a light and she put Junior down to rush to Mai.

"Oh my gosh!" She said with excitment, "You look so cute!"

Mai starred at Jane awkwardly. "Hun, I thought you were going to do your hair while I changed but it looks like a car ran over you."

Jane laughed, returning to the mirror to see Juniors doing. She quickly straightened it up while Lucia came out of the washroom in silence, having heard the whole conversation and pretending she hadn't.

"So I went with purple cause, obviously." Lucia said, pointing to her purple makeup then to her also purple dress. Mai smiled and began leading the way downstairs.

"I'm going to go play in my room." Junior said, waving to the girls. "Goodnight."

The girls waved goodbye to the young Hylian.

"Let's hurry up so we get in first and beat the crowd." Mai said.

"And traffic," Jane said, already planning to get an uber considering her dress.

When they reached the ground level, they were all surprised to find Yami and Yugi in the living room who were watching a film before being just as surprised to find them all dressed up. Mai blinked in confusion.

"Where's Duke?" She asked. Yugi blinked back.

"He left with Link," He said slowly, "Where are you guys going?"

Jane was surprised to hear that Duke and Link were together.

"A masquerade." Lucia said, hoping they don't invite themselves as this was a get away for them.

Yugi smiled, "You girls look really beautiful." He complimented. The Pharaoh kept a straight face, holding back all thoughts and comments to himself, looking away from them and pretending to hold more interest in the film. Jane sighed, also trying to keep a smile.

"We'll be back pretty late, so we'll see you in the morning." She said, unlocking the door and happy that the spring weather didn't require jackets.

"Hey this is sort of practice for Joey's wedding." Lucia said. "We can try being proper and elegant and what not."

"There will be nothing proper OR elegant about Joey's wedding." Jane joked.

"Hey, don't forget it'll be my wedding too." Mai defended, following the girls out the door and shutting it.

Yugi looked to the king. "Don't you think Jane looks really nice?"

Yami's expression did not change, and remained toward the screen.

"Of course I do." He said without emotion, then checked the time on his phone before looking at Yugi, "But do you know what I think is even better?"

"Hm?" Yugi blinked. The king smiled.

"Aside from Junior keeping to himself, the house is vacant with just you and I." He said, "Free to duel. What do you say, partner?"

Yugi's eyes lit up. "Ya! You're on."

The Masquerade

The girls arrived safely to Savannah Georgia's largest hall. The entire street near the buidling was packed with people in ball gowns and costumes, all wearing masks including the early arrivals of Duke and Link who were hiding in a crowd inside.

"You look ridiculous." Link insulted Duke, who wore an outfit similiar to that of _Tuxedo Mask_. Duke crossed his arms, leaning against the table they have claimed, furthest away from the doors.

"I look ridiculous? You didn't even follow the dress code, _Drew_." Duke commented. The Hylian did not plan accordingly as he wore his riding uniform under a dressy jacket, only his goggles were replaced with a tinted, brown leather mask that strapped on like a horse sattle. Link grunted.

"Nothing else was able to hide who I was." He explained, "The uniform isn't bad though, is it?"

Duke brought his hand to his chin. "Well, you could pass it as a costume except Lucia will know it's not. Can't you at least drop the riders hat?"

Link sweat-dropped. "I have to wear this thing. My ears will give me away earlier than I'd like."

Duke chuckled at himself for forgetting about the Hylian's pointed ears. "Oh right," He said, looking toward the doors, "Hey, there she is now."

Link turned his gaze toward the front door, surprised to see the girls dressed to exceeded expectations. He felt odd seeing them out of their usual attire, he felt as thought they were strangers. His blush hid beneath the mask, however he was really intriqeued to see Lucia in something outside of her closet. The dress fell over her figure beautifully, she looked adorable with her curled hair and red lips and she presented a great amount of sex appeal. She looked stunning.

"What is Mai wearing?" Duke blinked, breaking Link's thoughts.

"You're both in costume." Link chuckled at the coincidence. Duke's eyebrows dropped and he punched Link's arm.

"This is so cool," Jane said, looking at the giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling as slow music played to start the event. Couples already began to take over the dance floor and she gladly accepted a drink from one of the bus boys that walked around the floor keeping everyone refreshed.

The music picked up and Lucia grabbed the weight of her long purple dress and stood up from her seat.

"Well, we came here to have fun so let's dance." She said. Jane took another sip of her drink and stood up as well, careful not to knock over her beverage with her puffy blue dress.

"I couldn't agree more. Coming, Mai?"

Mai shook her head. "I'll catch up, I have a certain underdog to call," She said, grabbing her phone, "You guys go, I don't mind staying here and watching our stuff."

"Aw, are you sure?" Lucia said and Mai nodded.

"I'll be very entertained watching you guys make fools of yourself on the dance floor." She said.

Jane _sweat-dropped_ and turned around, "We came here to get away from the guys, Mai. Can u leave your _Joey's comments_ with him?"

Mai laughed as the girls walked off.

"You seem in a really good mood, Jane," Lucia said as they danced, "I mean, considering...you know. I thought you'd be hurting still."

Jane danced with Lucia to the hip hop playlist that was currently going on. "Lucia, I am in more pain than I think you'll ever know," She said, oddly with a smile, "I'm just very optimistic."

Lucia danced while holding up her dress, "I hope you're able to move past all of this."

Jane shook her head, "Don't worry about me. I'm more concerned right now about you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, with Link and Drew." Jane reminded, talking semi loudly due to the base. "Have you figured all of that out?"

Lucia stopped dancing. "Not even close." She said, remembering Drew's episode. "They are both so different but so alike."

"Well isn't Drew actually trying to getchu? Don't you owe him some recognition?" Jane asked. Lucia sighed. Though Jane was right about that, Lucia couldn't help but feel like she should stall for more time to give Link that same chance.

"I guess that would be fair," She said.

"I think I'm going to ask her to dance." Link said, standing up with confidence. "I just need to catch her alone."

"Why not just cut in?" Duke raised a brow.

"Because. Jane's known me for a long time, I'm afraid she might pick up on my voice." Link explained, slightly biting his lip as he nervously watched the girls dance.

"Hmm," Duke said, "You're right, we need to make her doubt her instincts.."

Duke looked around the hall, scanning the area for the DJ. When he found him, he noticed the strobe lights near the speakers and he smiled.

"I have an idea." He said, "I'll be right back."

Duke hopped off his chair and slide through the crowd to get himself toward the DJ. When he got to him, he ignored the signs and jumped onto the stage, stood by the Dj and smiled.

"Do you take requests?"

The DJ rolled his eyes, "Sorry Kid. Can't you read? You can't be up here. Step down before I call security."

Duke chuckled and held out his hand. "The name's Duke Devlin. I'm the rich and famous creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters. Heard of it?"

The DJ rolled his eyes and looked at Duke curiously, unable to accept his hand shake as he was controlling the macheines, "Oh really? What are you doing in a place like this?"

Duke knew in this world, his game is mostly unknown but thought he'd have fun with trying.

"It's a _need to know_ , and all you need to know is my request." He said.

"Just because you're a rich guy, doesn't mean you can bend the rules." The DJ complained, preparing the next song in advance on the laptop.

"I'll give you 20 bucks."

"Done."

At that moment, all the lights went off except for a single strobe light that shone purple lasers around the room, making everything hardly visible except for the moments the lasers passed their faces. Everyone waited for the matching song and soon, a track began that Lucia was able to quickly identify.

"Oh my gosh," She said to Jane, "It's _Meteor,_ by Miku,"

"It's a little slow though.." Jane crinkled her nose displeased, "I'm going to take this chance for a break and maybe mingle with some of the hotties around."

Lucia blinked. "Forgive me for saying this but," She said, "That wouldn't be nice to Yami _or_ Yuu."

Jane forced a smile, "I don't care," She said, "I've already accepted that I'm an awful human being."

It was like an anime _poor thing_ sound affect played in real life. Lucia pittied Jane's suffering mental state. "Are you sure you don't just wanna dance with me? Platonically."

Jane chuckled and wrapped an arm around her friend, "Drop the Platonic." She joked, "Maybe you should follow my example and take a break from Link and Drew." She said, "Look around, and you will be surprised."

Lucia followed Jane's gaze and was definitely surprised. There, coming out of the crowd, was a look she recognized all too well.

"Drew," Lucia said out loud. Jane blinked.

"Wait, what?" She looked up and, though it was difficult in the dark, saw that an incredibly attractive man in a horse back riding costume was walking toward them and she quickly made the connection that this was the mysterious other guy that Lucia was spending time with. She smirked.

"Ok, new plan. You go home to Link, and I'll get my hands on this guy. Or vise versa, whatever floats your boat longer."

Lucia laughed and elbowed Jane to silence her when Drew reached them. He cleared his throat and put on a voice.

"May I cut in?" He said. Lucia smiled and looked at Jane, who was expecting an introduction.

"Is it alright?" Was all she said. Jane blinked. Lucia didn't even realize her display of poor manners and failed to introduce them. She must be crushing harder than she thought. Though she knew what that was like so she nodded.

"Sure." She said, "I'll be with Mai."

At The House

Yugi's _Hyzanryu_ blew up in his face when Yami's _Magnet Warrior_ launched his attack. He shielded his face from the realistic affects of the holograms and laughed when it settled. He fell to the floor, slipping his Pjs on the smooth wooden ground, laughing over the odd events of the duel that made the game quite humerus. Who would have guessed that the _heart of the cards_ had no affect when having a friendly duel? Yami withdrew his monsters due to the duels conclusion.

"Are you alright, Yugi?" The king asked when Yugi crashed to the ground. The younger duelist laughed.

"Yeah that was great!" He said happily, "I just haven't dueled for fun in a while. Usually, when we duel, the whole world is at stake. It was nice to lose and have fun doing it."

Yami smiled, walked to Yugi and held out his hand. "It really makes all the difference, doesn't it."

Yugi took his hand and stood up, folding his duel disk to be put away. Yami blinked.

"Is that all?" He said surprised, wanting to play more. "I assumed we'd duel the rest of the evening."

Yugi sighed as he fell on the couch, sitting for the first time after standing from several games. "Well actually..." He started as the Pharaoh blinked, beginning to remove his duel disk as well, "There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

Yami joined Yugi on the couch. "Of course, Yugi. We can discuss anything you wish."

Yugi looked at the Pharaoh. "Can we talk in our room?"

Yami nodded.

* * *

Upon entering their master suite, Yugi made himself comfortable on their bed, rubbing his socks against the intriguingly designed carpet as he watched the Pharaoh remove dress shirt. He was silent as he replaced his garments with that of sleep, waiting for Yugi to speak first.

"So..." He started, blushing as he thought of his girlfriend in Domino city. "Kaiba's making big plans back home...He sort of expanded _Kaiba Land_ to go international and he's holding a championship duelist tournament at every park for their opening."

"Sounds like Kaiba." Yami said, entering his washroom and leaving the door open so he could still hear his friend. "I'm happy to hear things are going well for him."

"It's not just that. Kaiba wants me to participate as the King of Games." Yugi said, rolling over to the other side of the bed in the angle of view into the washroom.

"I see," Yami said understandingly, turning on the facet and preparing his tooth brush, "And is this a problem?"

Yugi frowned. "Well, I didn't become King of Games by myself...I was hoping you would come with me and we could duel together like old times."

Yami put his tooth brush down. "A tournament at every park in multiple countries results in a trip that would take months, Yugi."

"I know but I really want to do it," Yugi explained, "I want to do more than just support everyone else in this house. I want to have goals and achievements of my own. It's hard to see you expand on the museum, Lucia studying in school, and even Joey's getting married. I feel like I'm falling behind and dueling is all I really know how to do..."

Yami brushed his teeth as he listened to Yugi continue, "And well...Rebecka was invited since she's the youngest regional champion and she accepted... I...really want to cheer her on."

Yami spit into the marble sink, "So why don't you go with her?"

"Come on, Pharaoh. You know I don't want to be separated from you for so long." Yugi said sadly, "We tried when you went back to your time in Egypt and we couldn't handle it. That's why I really want you to come with me."

Yami rinsed his face of fresh water to aid in hiding his emotions. "Yugi...we have responsibilities here. We cannot just pause this life and take off for such a long time."

"Why not? Link is here. The girls are here. Is it the bills? Because Mai and her new team can afford to take over while we're gone." Yugi said quickly and Yami wiped his face with a cloth.

"This is not Mai's home, Yugi. This house is our responsibility." Yami explained, shutting the light in the washroom and beginning to remove his wrist bands as he walked to the large bed.

"She wouldn't mind." Yugi insisted, even knowing the Pharaoh would never be ok with it. Yami ignored him and Yugi huffed. "It can work. Link can watch the millennium items, Mai can help with money, and we can have Duke come by regularly to visit and give us a full report on how everyone is doing. Just imagine, you and me doing nothing but playing duel monsters for months."

When Yami did not respond for the obvious reason that was a certain woman would be left behind, Yugi decided to speak up.

"It could help you move on, you know?" He said, "Maybe distance is the only way."

"No, it is not." The Pharaoh answered quickly. Leaning against the back wall of the bed and sighing. "I am afraid it will not make a difference."

"How do you know?"

"Because, it's been an entire month and I've only been suffering worse than before." Yami explained.

"But isn't that because you see her everyday? You always say that time heals everything."

"I was wrong." Yami said, "It heals _nearly_ all, but not this. Time will not fix what I have."

Yugi frowned, bringing his knees to his chest. "A month isn't that much time."

"Yugi," Yami began, "You lack understanding to my circumstance. I let myself become so invested in her that she has become part of me now. Just as you are. I can hardly breath in her absence and I feel weak to her name. I feel stronger when she's near, even when I don't speak to her. I have peace of mind knowing that she's safe and all I have to do is reach out if that changed. I would rather suffer for the rest of my days this way than even consider leaving her."

Yugi frowned, understanding as it's how they also felt about each other. "...If you're ok with suffering, why did you give up on her?"

Yami pulled the covers from under him. "For many reasons. One of those being that I did not want to be responsible for tarnishing her soul. She is only meant to be with one man, I was not going to be selfish and allow her to continue living as a sinner." Yami pulled his socks off one at a time, "I also decided to give up because it was the honorable thing to do. I had to accept that I lost the game and let Yuu hold on to what he had first. But most of all, I thought it would be the easiest path and I could move on from this... However, with more days passing I just come to realize that it will never happen and I must come to terms with that."

Yami decided to leave out the details on his pursuit for , not wanting to bring the conversation off course where it started. Yugi was still deciding whether or not to take part in Kaiba's tournaments.

"That's why I don't want to leave you behind," Yugi said sadly, "Not when you need me the most."

Yugi had a point there. Without his better half to keep the Pharaoh pure of heart, how would he hold back his darker desires and refrain from acting on them?

"You know, it's still quite early." Yami changed the subject, commenting on the fact they were ready for bed and it was only 9 o'clock. "We can watch a movie."

Yugi smiled, figuring there was still plenty of time to make a decision. "Ya, it's way too early to sleep."

* * *

 **The Masquerade**

Lucia awkwardly accepted Link's hand when he requested a dance. He was beyond nervous, but there was no turning back now, especially with the pressure coming from a pair of blue eyes in the crowd. Duke was not letting him leave until he told Lucia the truth.

"I've never done this before so..." Lucia warned as she held onto his hand with part of her dress in between to keep herself from tripping on it. Link held onto her hand extra tightly just in case.

"Me neither," he said, "I can't say that this will be easier than riding, but we'll do our best."

"Speaking of, is the uniform some sort of replacement for a costume?" Lucia joked. Link sweat-dropped and smiled.

"Some sort." He repeated.

 _Meteor_ continued to play as Lucia and Link watched the dancers, attempting to copy them, holding each others hands and about a foot away from each other. At first they went the opposite way of each other, apologized and turned again and apologizing again. Link grunted.

"You go this way, and I'll go that way." Link said and Lucia nodded. The two hardly looked at each other and payed mind to the movements of their feet. After a few steps of success, Lucia tripped and was saved by Link's strong grip, as he predicted.

"Ugh, sorry," Lucia said, collecting her balance. "I'm such a cluts."

Link chuckled as they tried again. "It looked right to me, I'm just following you."

Lucia blinked. "But I was following _you_. I thought you were leading."

Lucia tripped again and Link kept her on her feet once more. He sighed.

"Ok, you know what, let's try this," Link said as he wrapped his powerful arm around Lucia's waist, lifting her off the ground by a few inches and bringing her close as he positioned her in a way she wasn't understanding. All she could do was keep her head tucked back to avoid unwanted face collisions. Link set her down so that her feet stepped on his.

"Oh! Sorry," She apologized right away, attempting to move them. Link laughed.

"What are you apologizing for? Stand on my feet and you wont trip anymore." He explained. Lucia blushed when she realized what Drew was saying and she listened, positioning her purple flats over his riding boots, not having to hold herself up at all with Drew holding her in place. She had no idea how strong he was...a very attractive trait in her opinion.

"That's better," He said, holding her like she was a stuffed doll, moving his feet around and guiding hers to follow. She smiled genuinly, enjoying the feeling of being strut around the floor without having to try at all.

"Thanks," she said sweetly, "At least I'm not a danger to pedestrians now."

Link chuckled. "So why did you come to this event anyway?"

Lucia avoided his gaze in shyness, "It was my friends idea. It was meant to be a girls night."

Link's expression become serious, "Did I ruin it?"

"You did but," Lucia paused, "I'm glad. I feel weird around Jane right now while she's struggling and I don't see you as often as the girls anyway."

Link cleared his throat, "I would imagine a girls night to take place at home. Why did you decide on a masquerade?"

Lucia sighed, "It's a long story. But, to keep it simple, it's hard with boys living at home."

Link smirked, "Why? Do they bother you?"

"No...but there's some drama going on with them that we just wanted to get away from."

"What kind of drama?" Link asked, turning them both around.

"Well Yami and Jane have serious tension and Link is still undergoing recovery." She explained. Link grunted.

"Recovery?"

"Yeah, he was in love with someone and he's still getting over her leaving him..." Lucia said sadly.

Link grunted in confusion. _Wrong. That is untrue,_ he thought. He had to tell Lucia who he was so he could make it clear that, even though he thought he was, he knows now he was never _in_ love with Diana.

"Lucia, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now..." He forced himself to say. Lucia looked up at him, suprised that he changed the topic so suddenly.

"What is it?"

"Well, urgh," He grunted in nervousness, "I didn't mean for this to go so far but... it's clear that you and I have become really good friends and spending a lot of time together recently and..."

As Link went on, Lucia looked into Drew's blue eyes as she listened, but for some reason, she could only see Link in them.

"...I think we have reached a level of trust that I think we are able to share anything with each other-"

Lucia's chest jumped when she thought Drew was about to confess his feelings for her.

"Woah, hang on, dear. Let me stop you there." She interrupted. Link raised a brow.

"...yeah?" He asked.

"Before you tell me what you have to say, I have to tell you something first." Lucia said, trying to be as honest as she could. "You're right. We have grown closer. As close as _friends_ can be."

She emphasized _friends_ , and Link clearly got the hint. Though he didn't understand what brought her to friend zone Drew and was hoping he wouldn't be zoned when he came out as Link. He continued to listen.

"And I will be honest, I also have had feelings a few times...and thought about you in that way but...I can't fully commit to you when I have someone else on my mind too. That would be wrong." Lucia explained.

Link blushed and sweat dropped. "You...you think I was about to ask you out?"

Lucia blinked. "...weren't you..?"

Link stopped dancing for a moment as it was awkward, "Um...not really, no. I wasn't."

Lucia's face reddened and boiled like hot steam. "Oh dear..." She said in embarrassment.

Link tried holding back a grin, "So you uh...thought about me?"

Lucia mentally cursed herself for making assumptions. She wanted to twiddle her thumbs from habit, but both hands were still glued to Drews, so she substituted it with lowering her head down against his shoulder in shame.

"Yeessss..." She stretched her answer in embarrassment and Link laughed, happy that he wasn't alone.

"So then," he started, "... _if.._ I asked you out...just hypothetically...why would you say no?"

Lucia could barely admit it to her friends, let alone Drew. But she never felt judged by him and it wasn't like he was going to run off and tell someone in the house so what can it hurt?

"I would say no because as much as I'm into you, I'm afraid there's someone I'm into _more_."

Link's heart skipped a beat at the same time that _Meteor_ was ending. "Really?...Who?"

Even though he asked, part of him knew the answer.

"That _amazing_ friend I told you about? Link?" Lucia said, "Him."

 _Endlessly_ started playing in the background and Link did all he could to hold back a smile. He was really suprised how happy he was to hear that Lucia had a crush on him, large enough to refuse Drew, a friend that she's spent so much time with. His self esteem went through the roof and he couldn't wait to tell her who he really was. But before he had the chance, she stopped him again.

"Why are you smiling like that? Was it obvious?" She blushed. Link collected himself.

"No no, it's just that..." Link stuttered, "I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to tell me this."

"I'm sorry, I hope I'm not rubbing it in or making you feel-"

"No, it's fine. That wasn't what my secret was..." Link grunted, "But I'm interested to know what it is about Link that would make you turn down a cool guy like me."

Link's self esteem has surfaced a bit of his cocky side. Lucia smiled, happy that Drew was so easy to talk to and that she could trust him with her feelings.

 _There's a shop down the street,_ _  
_ _where they sell plastic rings,_ _  
_ _for a quarter a piece, I swear it._ _  
_ _Yeah, I know that it's cheap,_ _  
_ _not like gold in your dreams,_ _  
_ _but I hope that you'll still wear it._

She sighed.

"Well," She debating on how to begin, "I admire his bravery...and his willingness to help another person in need, even if that's an inconvenience to him. He's determined and loyal..and he's a great listener."

Link smiled as he continued to do just that.

 _Yeah, the ink may stain my skin,_ _  
_ _and my jeans may all be ripped._ _  
_ _I'm not perfect, but I swear,_ _  
_ _I'm perfect for you._

"He's really dependable and I always feel safe around him. And...I'm not even going to dive into how I feel about his physical appearence..." Lucia looked away and Link blinked twice before a chuckle.

"Go for it, I wont judge you." He said. He appeared calm, but he was dieing to know.

Lucia pursed her lips. "I have a thing for blondes and blue eyes," She laughed, "Especially ones who are so...you know."

Link raised a brow, playing dumb. "So...what?"

"Hot." Lucia said through a shy laugh, "He's built. And he looks good in whatever he wears."

Link looked down at himself, wondering if the uniform was included.

"I didn't know that appearance meant anything to you." He added. Lucia shook her head and smiled with the utmost sincerity, with a look on her face like she was praying.

"It doesn't but," She said with capturing eyes. "He's a handsome man...that only adds to my love for him."

Link struggled to hold her up on his feet when he heard this. _Love?_ Her choice of words were...too stong. Too strong, in fact, that it took over him. For a moment, he forgot that he was posing as Drew, forgot about where they were, forgot about the conversation and forgot about Diana.  
All he thought about...was Lucia.

 _..and there's no guarantee,_ _  
_ _that this will be easy._ _  
_ _It's not a miracle ya need, believe me._

They were silent, Link moving to the music as Lucia's feet copied while looking at each other in a way they haven't before. Though there wasn't dialogue, they spoke to each other through their eyes, as though reading the others sole. Link could feel Lucia was being real with how she felt about him and Lucia looked back, questioning why Drew's gaze was so strong that she couldn't look away no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't look away from the piercing blue that peaked under the brown mask. She couldn't. Not even when it moved closer...not even when it filled the main area of her vision...and not even when the man behind it, kissed her.

 _Yeah, I'm no angel, I'm just me,_ _  
_ _but I will love you endlessly._ _  
_ _Wings aren't what you need, you need me._

* * *

 **Later At the House**

"You're right, it's Link and Duke." Yugi said when he looked out the window when the Pharaoh sensed people lerking outside the house. "I wonder why they wont come in."

Yami returned his attention to the large television that played their film. "I'm sure they are just enjoying the evening. Let's leave them."

Yugi joined the king under the blanket on the couch and got comfortable again.

"So you didn't tell her after all?" Duke whispered to Link who waited with him in the front of the house for the girls to catch up. They left the ball earlier than them in time to change their clothes and appear as though they've returned from other attended business. "After all my epic DJ work?"

Link grunted. "Sorry man...I sort of lost control of the conversation."

Duke laughed. "Don't lie to me. I saw you lay it on her. Now _that's_ courage if I've ever seen it."

Link couldn't respond properly. His mind was still back on that dance floor. He still felt what was refereed to as _butterflies_ in this world, a feeling in his stomach that made it hurt to think about it...in a good way. When he kissed Lucia, it felt completely natural. So much so, that the impulse to do it caused him to forget that he kissed her as Drew. He remembered clenching at her dress when he did, almost as though to prevent any chance of interference. It was a soft kiss, and didn't last as long as he would have wanted...likely because she thought it was someone else kissing her, rather than the one she claims to _love_. Link. The memory burned his cheeks.

"So why didn't you tell her, then?" Duke questioned his motives. The guy was brave enough to kiss the girl, but couldn't tell her a little secret?

"Because," Link remembered, "when she pulled away, she said..."

" _This-" Link said._

" _This can't go on.." Lucia said, "..I told you that we're just friends."_

"I'm sorry, it's just..."

" _Can we not talk anymore?" Lucia said sadly, denying her interest in Drew, all for the feelings she had for Link. "I rather just stay silent and dance..."_

Link was trying to stay in character, but he was really having mixed feelings. This was the first time he kissed a girl because he made the choice to. All he wanted to do was talk.

" _...Sure."_

"I think she's mad at me for kissing her." Link said. Duke rolled his eyes.

"No, she's mad at Drew for kissing her. Because she likes you."

"Exactly," Link sighed. Duke pulled Link's hat off. "Hey!"

"You idiot. When she comes home, you tell her who you are and she wont be mad anymore." Duke said slightly loud, "Don't you get it?"

Link took back his hat with force as he feels vulnerable without it. He still didn't know how he felt about Duke getting so involved. "I know! Trust me, I know and I agree. I'm not procrastinating anymore, I swear. I _will_ tell her. As soon as I'm alone with her again."

Duke watched Link put on his hero's hat and then looked away, remembering their agreement. Maybe he was too quick to doubt Link's confidence.

He leaned on both hands on one of the benches in front of the house and watched the entrance of the gates mindlessly.

"There they come." Link said, taking a deep breath. "Back to being myself."

As the girls climbed out of the Uber, Mai grabbed Jane's fluffy ball gown and helped her pull it out of the vehicle without ripping the fabric. Neither of the girls saw what happened between Lucia and Drew, but both were suspicious that something went down because since she returned from the floor, she had been as blank as a new canvas, completely without nuance.

They had many questions but decided to leave it for tonight as it was a looong day.

"Hey' it's Link and Duke." Mai waved, Lucia immediately looked up with guilt, looking at the hylian on the bench and feeling a stab in her heart.

When Duke saw Lucia with the conscious of what happened, he decided to give Link some space. He stood up and opened the front door. "I'll see you later."

As the dice master let himself into their home, Link let him go without hesitation and welcomed the girls.

"Hey," He greeted, shoving his hands in the pockets of his tunic. "How was the party?"

"Killer. I'm already looking forward to the next one." Jane smiled, "They played our song."

Link grinned when he remembered old times singing _Bye,Bye,Bye_ with Jane. "I bet singing alone wasn't the same, huh?"

Jane shoved Link with her arm as she lifted her big dress toward the stairs of the front door, ready to go inside with the girls, refusing to go alone in case Yami was still awake.

"Don't." Mai said, walking past Link when he was about to comment on her outfit. He held his hands up defensively as though to imply it would have been a harmless one.

When Lucia came after, his face become concerned when he noticed she didn't look happy. "How about you, Lucia? Did you have fun tonight?"

Lucia kept her eyes on the floor. Link wasn't her boyfriend or anything, but she still felt like she betrayed him by allowing Drew the oportunity to do what he did. She felt like she was lieing to herself.

"It was ok." She said. Link frowned. Was he responsible for ruining her night?

"Listen..." He said when he noticed Mai and Jane were talking and distracted. "Are you busy tomorrow? There's something I need to talk to you about."

Lucia looked at Link recalling DeJaVu. Didn't she hear that same request before from the same voice?

"Sure, after my class." She said. And then she remembered. His scarf. "Oh! Actually, there's something I've been wanting to give you!"

Link blinked surprised when her mood suddenly changed. "Uh-Ok. Tomorrow then."

Lucia nodded. This was perfect. She shouldn't feel guilty. Maybe when she gives him the scarf, it will give him a hint. She wasn't going to wait around in her fantasy of Link forever, especially if she genuinely liked Drew, a wonderful, sweet guy that she knows she could be happy with.

When they were all at the door, Mai let herself in first. As the others followed, they noticed Yami and Yugi comfortable on the couch ignoring the credits on screen and talking to Duke about Kaiba's coming tournaments.

"What were you guys watching?" Link asked Yugi on the couch. As the two spoke, Yami glanced at Jane once to get a look at her mood and crossed his arms, looking away again before she could notice and remained poker faced, pretending to be interested in Link and Yugi's conversation.

Lucia leaned against the couch behind Yami, watching Link as he spoke. It was easier to watch him when he wasn't looking and, now that she can, she noticed that his hair has grown out quite a bit. So much so, that it was covering his neck a little, similarly to Drew's. How had she not noticed before? She must be so crazy about Link that she's naturally drawn to others with similar features. And Drew and Link are quite alike...how interesting.

* * *

 **A/N: AH. Oh my goodness, shit is getting real with Link and Lucia, I ship them soooo hard.**


	13. Vol 2 Ch 6: Close Call

**_Savannah Georgia ~_** _  
Volume 2 – Chapter 6:_ _"_ _Close Call._ _"_ _  
Nearly two weeks later  
The Master Suite, 2 in the afternoon  
Yami  
_ _Narrator's P.O.V_

His eyes shot open when he realized he had dozed off. The king was sitting in the single sofa chair in his room wearing just his wife beater and short boxers while he thought about his life before falling asleep. During his nap, he had a most unpleasantly intriguing dream of his days in Ancient Egypt, being courted by an exotic dancer who's resemblance to Jane was uncanny. Yami groaned to himself and rubbed his forehead as he rose to his feet. He grabbed a pair of his black leather pants and dressed himself, buttoning them closed when he noticed his door was left open and Lucia was standing there, appearing as though she was about to speak.

"Yes, Lucia?" He asked when she stayed silent. She turned around.

"Oh, sorry Pharaoh. The door was open, I didn't mean to walk in on you." She explained, blushing and looking away. Yami was uneffected, as it wasn't like he was nude.

"It's fine, Lucia. What do you need?"

Lucia blinked. "I don't remember." She said, leaving the top floor in a rush. The Pharaoh blinked and decided his motivation wasn't up to question her and let it go. He fixed his gold bangs in the mirror before hearing a buzzing sound coming from the back yard of the house. He walked over to the window while applying his belt and saw Link and Junior standing by the covered pool, topless in the kind spring weather, flying a remote controlled airplane. Junior laughed in excitement as Link piloted the craft and the animals of the house lounged on the grass.

Oh yes, the king had just remembered it was Junior's birthday and everyone had just finished cake and were downstairs mingling. Yami decided to come upstairs to get away for a while since spending an entire afternoon watching Jane act sweet with Junior was much too industrious. He must have fallen asleep since that was something he had been lacking lately.

Yami returned to the main floor.

"Yeah, so in conclusion, Yami's hot." Lucia said, blinked.

"Hun," Mai rolled her eyes who was just in on the story. "you're late to the party."

Lucia smiled though her smile vanished when Yami walked by and Lucia shielded her face with both hands. The Pharaoh made his way straight to the open glass windows and outside with Link, pretending not to notice the topic of conversation. When he was gone, Lucia pursed her lips.

"So you went upstairs to avoid blushing over Link outside and failed," Mai summarized.

Lucia's lip remained pursed. "It's part of the reason I haven't given him the scarf yet." She said.

Mai rolled her eyes. "It's been over a week. He hasn't been topless all this time."

"Ok, so I'm procrastinating! I have just been feeling guilty ever since what happened at the masquerade." Lucia explained.

Mai watched Jane feed the animals by the kitchen island. "But you're not dateing him. There's nothing to feel guilty about. It's not like you're in Jane's situation."

Lucia sighed and blinked as she too watched Little Link eating the puppy food that Jane provided him with. She let herself fall backwards over the back of the couch and onto the cushion. "I'm thinking of writting a book, by the way."

Mai turned to look at the girl who's legs stood up like monuments. "Oh?"

"Yeah. With school, things are busy but I still find time to write my stories. Maybe I should take it to the next level."

"Why not," Mai encouraged, pushing her legs. "You've got nothing to lose."

"Did you forget we have woman in the home?" Yami reminded the elf when he joined the boys outside.

Link controlled the model airplane and responded without taking his eyes off of it. "They're inside and it's nice out," he said, "Plus Junior started it. His birthday, his rules."

The Pharaoh smiled without responding as he wasn't _that_ against it. Link looked at Yami for a split second before returning his attention to the airplane.

"You look really tired, Pharaoh. You alright?" Link said as Junior yelled to watch out for a branch.

The Pharaoh watched the toy airplane. "Well, I just awoke from an unintended rest."

"...Yeah, well you needed it, I'm sure." Link sympathized. Yami sighed.

"Not exactly. I saw some images that only made me feel more restless when I awoke..." Yami said, glancing through the windows of the sliding doors and watching Jane play with Luna under the table cloth.

Link's sharp hearing picked up on Yami's glance without having to look at him and he grinned with a sigh.

"Pharaoh, don't stress over it. You wont feel like this forever." He reminded. Yami was not convinced but appreciated the effort. He turned to face a hyperactive little Junior pretending to fly around the grass.

"How is your birthday going, Junior? Are you enjoying yourself?" Yami asked, considering that they skipped his last one to honour the beliefs of a friend that has left them.

Junior smiled at the king. "Yeah, I love my airplane."

Yami smiled back and then returned his attention to Link. "Hm..." He started, "Weren't you and Lucia meant to have a discussion some time ago? Did that go well?"

Link nearly dropped the controller and grunted. "Uh, I'm waiting for her to bring it up."

Yami and Junior both sweat-dropped.

Link began to control the airpolane to a safe landing and glanced at the Pharaoh's expression for a second. Of course, when Yami _wants_ you to read his emotions, you can. Because that dumbfounded look on his face screamed _fool_.

"What?" He asked after seeing the same look on Junior.

"Why do you insist on waiting for the woman to make the first move? You understand that the chances of that is unlikely, don't you?" Yami said, crossing his arms.

Link hesitated to respond with Junior present, so he conjured up a lie.

"Junior, the plane is acting up, so I'm going to try to fix it. Why don't you go inside and play with the girls in a mean time?" He said. Junior wasn't stupid, a brand new plane acting up? He took the hint and left anyway, rubbing his belly as he entered the house.

"So I'm avoiding the conversation. I have my reasons." Link said, walking to the plane on the ground and picking it up. Yami smiled.

"What are the reasons?" He asked. Link pretended to examine the toy. Yami knew that Link worked at the stables, but he never told him who he was posing as. He shrugged and figured it was time.

"I've been giving Lucia lessons at the stable...as Drew." Link said without looking at the King.

After a pause.

"I know." Yami said. Link grunted.

"What!? No way. There was no way you'd know this, Pharaoh." Link denied with a clenched fist, "I know how you and you're powers work, no matter what you picked up on there is no way that you'd deduct that I-"

"Duke told me."

Link froze and then growled while pulling at his hair. "THAT NO GOOD BASTARD-"

* * *

Later that Evening

The celebration was beginning to settle. Yami and Yugi were cleaning up the kitchen with Link and Junior lay on the couch with Joey who was able to make it a for a little while to spend some time with the birthday boy. The two hyperactive blondes watched cartoons over the delightful taste of their favourite potato chips while Gumball snorted along their feet.

The girls hung around a bit longer in their room to kill time until Mai had to Domino City. Lucia lay in the creves below the attic, playing _Amnesia Memories_ on Jane's Surface, and Mai searched a youtube playlist of hers on the desktop computer.

 _Buzz Buzz.._ Jane's phone went off in her back pocket. She had Luna in her arms and faced her bottom to Mai so that she could check it for her. It was a little out of place considering everyone was home and her family is more likely to message her via Facebook.

"Mai, can you check that. I can only imagine it could be Joey or Yuu." She said, even surprised then since Joey would reach her through Mai and Yuu's messages have been muted in case received while a certain king was around.

The tall girl pulled the phone from Jane's back jean pocket and looked at the sender without unlocking the phone. She blinked in total confusion, thinking she misread the name.

"...Rebecka?" She said. Lucia looked at the girls and Jane jerked her head back confused.

"Wait, what?" She said, putting Luna down and grabbing the phone to see for herself. It was a text from Rebecka. A long one from the looks of it.

"Becker?" Lucia raised a brow, "She never texts you directly, does she?"

"Yeah..." Jane said, hesitating to open the message.

"That's random," Lucia said. "So why is she messaging you out of the blue all of a sudden?"

"I don't know," Jane said, looking at the phone. "Let's see what it says..."

 _Hey Jane, it's Rebecka. I know it's strange that I'm texting you directly, but I discovered something about Diana that I think you may want to know. Let's talk._

"Diana?" Mai said suspiciously. Jane blinked with great confusion. What did Rebecka know about Diana? This was so out of character for the Rebecka she's come to familiarize with. Jane began typing out a reply.

"What are you going to say?" Lucia asked. Jane hit send.

"I don't know what Diana's up to and frankly, I don't care," She explained, "but if she's gotten involved with my friends, then I'd very much like to know what's going on."

"I wonder what it is she wants to tell you..." Lucia said.

"Yeah...I'm going to crab a snack..." Jane said. She left the room to get silence and she sighed. With everything, _everything_ that has been going on lately, she hasn't thought about Diana in a while, especially since she had her episode. Though even though they went their separate ways, she wished for Diana's well being but getting Rebecka, or anyone, involved would really upset her. She clenched her fist wondering what she's done since she's left her and was caught by surprised when the Pharaoh met her in the hall.

"Oh!" She said, trying to hide her mood. "Uh, I'm going to go for a walk in the park. I'll be back in a bit." She said quickly, walking past him. The Pharaoh noticed her clenched fist wrapped around her phone and couldn't help but suspect that she was running off to call her _boyfriend_. He let her go without saying a word and returned on his way to his room...cursing himself for feeling just as much pain about this as he did a month ago.

"Pharaoh?" He heard, turning around to see Link at the top of the staircase, just passing Jane as he called for him. The king smiled.

"Yes, Link?" He said, happy to speak with the only being in the house who doesn't bring him any sort of stress at all.

"I have work in an hour but...I'm going to remind Lucia about our talk. After what you said, I figured it was the courageous thing to do." He explained. Yami nodded.

"I am happy to hear it. Good luck," He said turning around before Link stopped him.

"But before I do..." He said, "I have a question."

The king put his hands in his pocket patiently.

Link noticed they were near the front door to Lucia's room and he gestured the Pharaoh to move away from it. When they were both in the master suite, Link fiddled with his hat and grunted.

"I really didn't want to bring this up considering your position, but I hope it's alright," Link paused, "How did you know that were... _in_ love with Jane?"

Yami looked away from Link, wishing he hadn't brought his mind back to that woman. He turned around and grabbed a sweat shirt from his bed and put it over his wife beater. He sighed.

"Well," He paused trying to find the words, "I suppose it's different for everyone. Yugi or Joey may explain love differently it...depends on the perspective of the individual."

"I want _your_ perspective, Pharaoh." Link said, standing strong, showing Yami that he wants a real answer and none of this metophoric or generic advice. He wants a personal response.

Yami crossed his arms. "Are you suspecting love for Lucia?" He asked.

Link grunted and shook his head in frustration, "No! That's not, I mean-. That's-I don't know! Please don't avoid the question, Pharaoh. Just...bring me to the moment that you knew it wasn't a crush anymore. When did you conclude that...she was so special?"

 _To the moment he fell in love...?_ That's what he wants? That's the last thing the Pharaoh wanted to think about tonight. Though he could see Link was going through troubles of his own and Yami had an instinct to do whatever he could to help his friend.

"Alright..." He said in a half whisper and then clearing his throat. "When I decided that Jane was the woman I wanted was last summer. Do you recall that day we spent at the water park by the beach?"

Link nodded. "Yeah, I remember. She had on that orange swimsuit, when she raced me to the buoy out in the lake." He recalled, "I thought you knew way before then. What was special about that day? Did she say something?"

"Well, it may have taken me longer because of my denial which Yugi helped me see through..." Yami remembered, putting his ringed fingers to his chin, "Though I did walk with her along the shore, I don't think it was the experience that made me come to the realization. I believe it was just time. Eventually I stopped ignoring my thoughts and accepted that it was she that I looked forward to seeing every day."

"That doesn't help," Link sweat-dropped, "I thought I loved Dee once and after a lot of thought I realized it was a mistake. But she told Jane that she loved me for years but you don't do what she did to the people you love. So how do you know?"

Yami leaned against his closet doors. "People tend to use the word loosely, however I do not think that was the case for our once friend. I am confident that Diana was in love with you. Sometimes the people closest to you can hurt you the most. Like Jane I, I believe that my feelings for her are mutual however she still behaves the way that she does, even if it means my pain. Humans are flawed, they aren't meant to follow reason consistently, especially with an emotion that is so complex."

Link lazily let himself sink into the single couch near the Pharaoh. "Alright, shrink." He joked, "Thanks to my _Drew_ persona, I've accepted that I've got a crush on the girl. Now what?"

Yami smiled. "You've only known Lucia for a few months, Link. There's no guarantee that your feelings will grow or move on however _if_ they do grow, it will take time. If you want to know which direction to take, I suggest beginning with honesty,"

Link looked at the Pharaoh with a clueless expression.

"Tell her about Drew." Yami clarified. "Nothing good comes from deceit...trust me."

The Pharaoh changed the direction of his sentence when he said that, putting tension in his eyebrows as though he was forcing himself to keep a happy face on.

"If that is all, please excuse me. This conversation has put me in need of a distraction..." Yami said, guiding Link out the door and walking without him toward the stair case in search for Yugi. Link exhaled and clenched his fist.

"Alright." He said in confidence by the door of the girls room, "Here goes nothing."

Just as he was about to knock, Mai opened the door as she was headed out. She and Link blinked twice at each other.

"This is awkward..." She said, suspecting that he may have been listening in on the conversation. Link picked up the hint.

"I wasn't spying." He said, "If I wanted to, I wouldn't have to hang out in the hall. My ears can pick up conversations from my room."

Mai rose her eyebrows awkwardly...like that made the situation any better. She decided to forget about it and walked around Link to head to the guest room as she was initially suppose to, leaving Link in full sight at the door frame of the girls room where Lucia paused her game to acknowledge him.

"Hey." She said with a smile. Link cleared his throat and let himself in.

"Hey." He said back, allowing himself to sit next to her on her bed. "You wanted to talk?"

Lucia intertwined her fingers to hold back her inner fan girl. She nodded.

"Yeah." She said, standing up and getting a plastic bag that was tucked under the desk. She returned to sitting next to the hylian and she handed it to him. "It's finished."

Link blinked. "Finished? What's finished?" He could not make out what Lucia was reffering to, so he took the bag with his gloved hands and peaked inside...the sight of the blue fabric sent chills through his body.

He returned the bag. "I thought I told you, you can have it."

Lucia pushed it back toward him. "And I told you that it suits you and I would fix it." Lucia paused when Link was looking away uninterested. She huffed. "Can you at least look at it?!"

Link grunted and roughly pulled it out of the bag. At first he looked at it with a cold expression until he noticed the changes and his face softened. "What did you do?"

Lucia smiled proudly, pointing to the stitching at the end of the scarf. "I'm not very good at sewing but I think it was able to get it pretty close. Huh?"

Link lightly touched the red and yellow stitching of the triforce symbol that Lucia sewed onto the scarf. It was evident that the job was not done by a professional, but the quality was well done. "Well...yeah, it's good but why did you do this?"

Lucia pouted, feeling sad that he doesn't remember the conversation as well as she did, who practically had it memorized. "You wanted to throw it out because it reminded of you of Dee's betrayal," Lucia went on, talking with her hands as a shadow creeped over Link's eyes, "But I wanted to add the triforce on it, so that when you wear it, you remember to have courage and that, even in your toughest moments, you're friends are standing behind you to help you through it..." Lucia chuckled, "And...it's such a nice scarf it feels wrong to throw it away!"

Link's body was stiff from fighting off another pain in his head, and this time was lucky that it lasted only a few seconds. When it was gone he turned to Lucia with a smile.

"Thanks," He said in a scratchy voice, loosely hanging the scarf over his shoulders once to show appreciation. "At least it means something else now."

Lucia shyly twiddled her fingers again, thinking about how adorable he looked with it on. "You're welcome..." was all she could say. Link starred at the floor for a few seconds, eyeing a piece of fur from Luna on the carpet before turning to Lucia again.

"That's why you wanted to talk to me?" He asked, "To give me this?"

"Yeah, why?" Lucia questioned his tone.

"I just...you asked to talk to me when you returned from that party, I assumed something made you-" he paused, "I thought you wanted to tell me something else."

Lucia blushed. Though it was true that her conversation with Drew reminded her to give Link the scarf, she was not about to tell him what she told Drew.

"Nope," She said, "Sorry."

Link arched his eyebrows. _Honesty,_ Yami said. If he tells Lucia that he's Drew, then they can move furthur with the conversation. And now's as good a time as any...

 _Vibe Vibe ~_

Lucia and Link both looked down at the covers where Lucia's phone vibrated. She picked it up to check it and smiled.

"What?" Link asked, "Is Jane looking for you?"

She shook her head, "No, it's my pen pal. He and I like to share story ideas."

 _...He?_ Link suddenly felt less courageous. It was like he thought he knew all there was about her, but then realizing he doesn't know anything. Maybe coming out as Drew will have to wait...

* * *

The Park

"Oh boy, this is going to be weird," Jane said quietly as she sang to keep herself distracted. The phone was ringing as she just dialed and now she waited.

"Hey." Rebecka answered.

"Hey Beck...it's me," Jane answered, "You wanted me to call?"

"Yes, there's a lot to talk about. Let me go somewhere private, please hold on a moment." She said. As Jane heard rustling, she had forgotten how formal Rebecka was when she spoke.

"Ok," Rebecka returned, "I wanna start by saying. I know you have been was a good friend to Diana." She said and Jane raised her eyebrows, surprised to hear this, "I understand that more than anyone."

"...Why are you saying this?" Jane leaned forward, "Your message wasn't a coincidence. What's going on, Beck?"

"Duke payed me a visit a few days ago with very interesting things to say..."

Jane clenched her fist.

"What things?" She said.

"Well... I recently learned that he and Diana have never been out of contact. In fact, they've been talking on the phone every Wednesday since you guys moved to Savannah Georgia."

Jane dropped her phone. There were no words. The way she felt before about Diana leaving looked like sweet chocolate next to how she was feeling about it now. She was ready to kill someone.

After starring in shock at the trees in the park, Jane picked up her phone.

"...Sorry...what?" She said. Rebecka sighed, but Jane collected herself and raised her voice.

"Let me get this straight! You're telling me that this girl said all that she did before we left and only kept contact with Duke Devlin?!" She paused, "Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?"

"...Because she speaks the worst of you." Rebecka said, "Especially lately."

Jane's eyebrows dropped like weights, "Shocking."

"I just couldn't imagine why she would want to live with someone for this long who was as cruel to her as she said you were. I eventually came to realize that you saw her as a victim. It was just a speculation, but when Duke told Diana he was going to tell you about her and try to work things out between the two of you, she got really upset. That made me very suspicious."

"Hell yeah, it's suspicious!" Jane yelled standing up, "She tells me I'm a bully, refused to come with us to Savannah Goergia just because I have an extroverted personality that's too strong for her, turns her back on Link and Junior but she's been calling Duke on a weekly basis? WHAT THE FUCK!?"

"Jane?" A deep voice said and Jane's heart jumped when she turned around to find the Pharaoh's silhouette in the darkness of the night in the park. He had his hands in his pockets and she was more surprised to find him there with his attention on her. She blinked as her mind tried to take him in and breathed heavily, calming down from her anger and looking at the King's concerned expression. She hadn't even realized how dark it had gotten.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Jane didn't respond as her mind was all over the place.

"I know! Trust me, I scolded Duke too. That's why I wanted to tell you as soon as I could," Rebecka said. Jane sighed, finally calm.

"Duke..." She said.

Yami silently watched Jane on the phone.

"...I'm just so..." Jane was trying to end the conversation, feeling uncomfortable talking on the phone when someone was waiting for her.

"Well...thing is...," Rebecka said, "Diana and Duke aren't suppose to know I told you."

Jane didn't even get upset this time. She was all out of energy. Instead, she put her hand to her forehead.

"Of course..." She whispered.

Jane looked at Yami, barely making out his face in the dark and was more worried about why he was there than anything else.

"Ok, look..." Jane said, "I have to go. But I'll text you, I guess."

"Sure and I'm sorry." Rebecka said, "I hope I didn't take up too much of your time."

"Don't apologize," Jane sighed, "As much as it sucks, I would rather know the truth. You did me a favour today. Thank you."

Jane hung up the phone and held it with both hands while she and Yami faced each other for a few seconds of loud silence.

"Sorry about that..." Jane decided to say. Yami didn't intend to follow her into the park, however, after his conversation with Link and seeing the time, he had this ache in his heart that would only sooth itself with Jane's presence: ironically.

"It's already 10 o'clock, I've just come to ensure your safety that is all." He said. Jane frowned. They both knew there was more to it, he could have sent anyone else to go get her, not to mention the crime rate in Savannah Georgia is extremely low.

"Oh." Jane said, waiting for the Pharaoh to move first. "Thank you."

Yami turned around slowly and began his pace down the path in the park to return home. Jane awkwardly followed behind, wanting to break the silence and make things more comfortable. Looking at him from the back made her remember her plans for staying away from both him _and_ Yuu, for she was undeserving of either. But then...should she tell Yami that?

Yami's third eye glowed and he curiously, without looking at her, raised a brow wondering why, of all feelings, she was showing an aura of self doubt. What could she be doubting? Should he dare ask her?

"Yami?" "Jane?"

They said at the same time. Jane immediately pulled back.

"Go ahead." She said. Yami cleared his throat, looking to the side and back at her.

"Please, ladies first." He insisted. Jane held both hands to her chest... a common psychological reaction to one feeling negatively self conscious, until her eyes adjusted and was able to see Yami with better clarity.

"You, you look different tonight," She said curiously moving closer, "Did you do something different?"

Yami blinked once, and looked to the side again, avoiding her hypnotic eyes. "No."

Jane squinted and moved closer, "...Your eyeliner is almost all rubbed off."  
She blushed when she realized this and moved back again. "I don't think I've ever seen you this way before."

Yami closed his eyes longer than normal and opened them slowly to look at her from the side. Of course maintaining his Egyptian galena had been difficult as of late...what with the daily shedded tears to ruin it due to her cause.

"I...removed it to prepare for the night." He lied. "I must have done a poor job."  
The king always went to bed with his eye make up and just reapplied it in the morning.

"Oh." She said, thinking he still looked beautiful. Just different. "So...what did you want to say?"

Yami raised a brow. "My eyes were not the reason you spoke my name," He said confused, "What was your original intent?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to thank you for coming to find me." She lied horribly, and Yami picked up on it. She's _still_ lieing to him. His eyebrows crinkled.

"Then I have nothing to add." He said, turning back around and continuing his way home. Jane followed sadly. She didn't think telling Yami about her plans to stay away from both he and Yuu was a good idea. He would get really upset. She thought it was better to just, let him learn it on is own once he's moved on.

Next Morning

Everyone was out today at work and school except for the Pharaoh, Link and Jane. Yami and Jane ignored each other, Jane keeping to herself at work upstairs and Yami remained below working on a particular project of his own with Link's help. Both snacked on chocolate cookies when Link heard someone approaching the house.

"He's here." Link said, "Want me to let him in?"

Yami put down a half eaten cookie and brushed off his hands. "That's alright, keep working. I'll get it."

Coming out from the forgotten basement, Yami approached the front door and opened it for Joey who he hasn't seen in nearly two weeks. The king smiled and shook his hand with pleasure.

"Joey, it's good to see you." He said with a nod. Joey nodded slightly deeper, showing respect for the King.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too, Pharaoh." He said, "No offence though, I can't stick around. Gotta get back to work soon before Mai has my head. You know how it is."

"Of course, please." Yami smiled and gestured his head toward the door under the stair case. "Link and I have been working on developing the basement since we moved here and we'd like you to see it."

Joey let himself jog down the stairs until he found Link in the middle of the carpeted brown floor, having a glass of milk as he effortlessly pushed a couch with one hand into the desired position. Link wiped away his milk mustache and removed his hat to cool off.

"Hey Joey." He said. The duelist looked around and noticed that the basement was not only as large as the main floor, but an old piano was pushed in the corner, some shelving was put in and the room had a small set of bedroom furniture at the very end of the room, concealed by hanging curtains with a small TV, resembling a tall tent. Joey didn't say anything and waited for the men to explain themselves.

Yami put a hand on Joey's shoulder from behind him.

"It's not nearly as luxurious as we had hoped," He explained, "But we thought we should have a separate room from the guest room for anyone who may visit frequently enough, including you."

Link let himself fall on a couch near one of the walls. "So now if you feel like being alone, just come downstairs."

 _Hell Yes_ , is what Joey thought.

"You guy's should have told me," Joey said, "I would have helped you out."

Link chuckled and stood up. "Well, actually, to be honest, we were thinking of turning the guest room into a new bedroom for Junior. Now that he's growing up he may want his own space..." He paused, "But we still have a couple of years."

"Yeah, sounds like fun." Joey agreed. "Except, I may not be around as often as usual...I'm thinking of entering Kaiba's new world tournament."

Yami remembered Yugi talking about that and smiled, "Are you sure Kaiba will reserve a spot for you, Joey?"

Joey growled, "That rich boy betta let me in! I'm runner up in Duelist Kingdom! You can't have a kick butt tournament without Joey Wheeler!"

"But Kaiba hates you." Link said, "Even I know that."

Joey huffed and crossed his arms. "That Kaiba is just jealous of my superior dueling skills."

* * *

The Stables

Link used his amazing strength to drop the giant bag of horse fodder onto the rest of the bags inside the barn and whiped his forehead. It was a short shift, but carrying around 100s of pounds non stop all evening was even tiring on the hylian. He laughed as he watched Ash pick up horse dunk from the ground.

"Laugh it up, Link. I know you suffer cleaning up after a monster like Emmett." He said. He was right, but that didn't change Link's amusment from watching Ash. Link walked closer to where he cleaned and leaned against a wooden pillar.

"What happens in the winter time? Do classes still run?" Link asked. Ash shook his head.

"No, but winters don't last long in Savannah Georgia, don't worry." Ash explained.

"Drew?" They heard someone call. It was Lucia. Link's and Ash's eyes widened.

"SHIT!" Link said quickly, looking down at himself who was completely exposed. Because he wasn't teaching tonight, he just wore his loose topless sweats from the Goron village that was comfortable and easy to move in, as well as his riders hat to hide the ears from his co-workers.

"What the hell is she doing here so late?" Ash whispered loudly and gestured Link away, "Go change in the washroom, I'll stall her."

"I can't! I didn't bring my uniform with me!" Link panicked.

"Oh you fucking moron." Ash growled walking out of the barn. Link watched him leave and breathed at an abnormally quick pace. Was this bad karma for waiting so long to tell her the truth? What should he do?

"Hey, Ash. Is Drew off yet?" He heard her ask just outside the doors. He looked around quickly and rushed through the back doors to hide in the other hut where the front desk was. He noticed Ash's jacket hanging over the office chair and wasted no time in putting it on to cover himself. He ruthlessly opened drawers and files, hopelessly looking for some means of covering his face. Anything!

His sharp ears could pick up that Lucia was closing in on him. Just as she was about to open the door, Link dove under the desk and grabbed a box of tissues and pulling them out incredibly quickly.

"Drew?" Lucia asked when she came in. She saw a figure behind the desk and blinked.

"Yeah?" Link put on a voice. Lucia leaned over the desk.

"What are you doing over there?" She asked. Link covered his face with the tissues and fake sneazed.

"Not feeling too well," He grunted, "why did you stop by?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just," Lucia said as she noticed Drew awkwardly refusing to allow her to look at him, "I just wanted to talk to you to thank you."

Link turned to look at her, forcing himself to remember to keep his face covered and hat low. "Thank me?"

"Yeah." She said, looking to make sure Ash wasn't too close to the hut. "When we were at the masquerade ball and after you...well you know. You kind of pushed me to talk to Link and I think it's a good start."

"Good start...to what?" Link asked curiously.

"Who knows." She shrugged, "But even if it's a start to nothing, I need to start to know it's nothing...if that makes sense? So I can give up false hopes."

Link blushed behind the tissues. "Oh."

"I also came to cancel our lessons...and say goodbye." Lucia added. Link grunted.

"What? Why?" He stood up from behind the desk and Lucia looked away when she noticed he was topless under his opened coat.

"Well because... at the party you gave me the impression that you want...oh my, how do I put this?" Lucia struggled with her words badly enough, never mind in front of Drew and his chiseled body hiding under that fabric.

"I told you I was interesting in my friend, so...I don't think it's a good idea to...lead you on." Lucia said.  
Link looked to the side quickly and didn't know how to feel. Posing as Drew has helped him get to know Lucia and he wasn't sure if he was ready to face her as himself yet.

"I'm...happy for you," He said just to say. Lucia smiled.

"But there was one more thing I wanted to ask you..." Lucia said, walking closer and causing Link to feel uncomfortable. Lucia leaned to the side for a different perspective, "Can I see your face?"

Link jumped in place. "W-w-w-what kind of a question is that? You've seen my face." He lied.

Lucia shook her head, "Well sure but not bare. I want to know the face of my friend and I realized at the masqerade that I don't even know what you look like." She laughed.

Link's heart rate increased, "Not today, I'm a mess cause I'm sick." He fake sneezed again.

"That's ok, I wont judge. And I may not come back for a while, so-" Lucia lifted her hand and walked around the desk to go closer to Drew. Link walked backwards, nearly tripping on the chair.

"I don't know, Lucia. Trust me, it's gross," He tried. When Lucia didn't pull back, "Like I'm breaking out, my nose is red- mucus even!"

Lucia sighed, "At least take off the hat."

Link's eyes widened, "NO! I mean, no. Definitely not the hat..." He said as he walked to the oposite of the desk to her. Lucia raised a brow.

"What's wrong with you? Is your hair breaking out?" She said in frustration.

Link scratched his head, keeping one hand over his face in tissues and fake laughed, "No...".

Lucia didn't want to push him any further and make him any more uncomfortable. She couldn't understand why Drew was over reacting but just like typical Lucia, she will give him benefit of the doubt and believe him when he says that he's just sick.

"...alright," She said with doubt, "Maybe I'll come back at a better time...?"

Link nods desperately waiting for her to get the hell out of the office. When Lucia turned around and left the room, Link let himself fall on the seat feeling relaxed and throwing out the tissues before she came back suddenly and he bumped his head from ducking under the desk again.

"One more thing," She said suddenly, ignoring the fact that he was still hiding himself. "I did want you to meet Link still. To know who I am talking about and maybe offer him a job here?"

Link raised a brow under the desk. "A job?"

"Yeah. It's actually the reason I accepted the lessons to be honest..." She paused, "It was for him."

Link blushed. Woah. He didn't know that...Her honesty was inspiring.

"Can we talk about this another time?" Link faked sneezed.

"Sure." Lucia smiled. "Bye, Drew."

Link did not move from that spot for at least another 30 minutes.

* * *

One Week Later

 _Early April_

 _The last week has been tense for everyone. Not even kidding.(The narrator is even tired). So much Drama. For the most part, everyone focuses on their own business and it has been especially easy to forget the problems thanks to Joey and Mai's nearing wedding just a few days away. Yami has already booked the place and ensured Mai's Vocaloid team to be there for special appearances and songs. Link has been aiding with his super strength, setting up tables and hanging up decorations at the hall with a hyperactive little helper who insists that jumping on the stage is "testing stage presence". Yugi has been helping with the guest list ensuring no one gets left out and both girls have been going to final brides maids dress fittings, and picking out flowers and colours, etc._

Right now, Link holds his balance on a high step latter, nailed that giant diamond letters on the wall that read, "Mai and Joey," with Jane and Mai as they put the center pieces on the tables...something which would take quite the amount of time considering the grandness of this wedding.

Jane gently organized the lavender flowers in the decorated vase with live beta fish inside, trying to organize it so it was perfect. Mai instantly picked up that it was off center.

"Hun, the vase is a bit off and it's bothering me." She said from the next table. Jane blinked when she noticed it really was _tiny_ but made the correction to satisfy her pet peeve.

"Ok, I think we are running out of flowers." Jane sweat-dropped. "Again."

Mai smiled, "Did the Pharaoh have to book the biggest hall in town?"

"It's not _that_ big," Jane said. Mai rolled her eyes.

"The hall isn't, but we are putting a cover over the entire garden leading to the park for everyone to fit." Link said, "Isn't that much?"

Jane picked up the basket that was now empty from flowers. "I think they just really want everyone loved to come."

Link nearly stabbed himself with a nail but continued on.

"Well of course we do." Mai said, walking out with Jane to gather more flowers from the parked truck outside. As Mai leaned through the back to get more bouquets, Jane noticed how significantly long Mai's hair has grown out and how much time it has been since they met.

"I have to say, Mai. I didn't think you'd be helping me on your own wedding preparations." She said.

Mai filled the basket Jane was holding with more flowers. "It is odd," she paused, "But after you told me Rebecka's story, I didn't want to leave you alone for a second."

Jane rolled her eyes, "I am still in awe of it all."

Mai nodded with a depressing and sarcastic _it's great_. Jane stopped walking before they went in.

"So...is Duke still going to keep in touch with her?" She asked. Mai looked up and sighed.

"Despite the fact that he knows better, he may still want to be her friend. But I thin he's asking for a disaster." She explained.

Jane agreed. Though her anger was worth more, she missed Diana now and then.

"Yeah..." She said, as they opened the door to continue with the work. Link was on the ground now, picking up the giant latter, one that would normally need machinery to move, and shifting it to hang that remaining Diamond letters. He looked at the girls with an annoyed expression when they came in but the two didn't seem to pick up on it.

"Anyway," Mai said, dropping the conversation. Though she was only briefly updated on his story from Jane's perspective, she knew enough not to talk about Diana around Link. "Let's get back to these wonderful flowers." With sarcasm.

Jane laughed, also tired. She was sure they had done 100 center pieces already.

"Hey, Link? Want to call it a day?" Jane asked.

"Sure," He said coldly, "though it's already this coming weekend. I think I'm going to stick around and finish with these letters at least."

Jane blinked. "Ok." She said, dropping the basket on an empty table. "Come on, Mai. You're meant to meat up with the Vocaloids soon."

And with that, the girls left. At the celebrities hotel, Mai prepared tea for herself from the small machine and Jane pouted while watching the television...without really watching it. They were early and it was just the two of them. She was still taking in the surprise that Joey and Mai's wedding was just around the corner _and_ nothing has been settled with Yami or Yuu. The stress is still fresh.

Mai sat with her on the couch, handing her a cup even though she refused when offered.

"How will you go home?" She asked. Jane took the cup without looking at her. She would normally ask Yami to pick her up but fuck that.

"I don't know." She said honestly, "Maybe I'll stay here."

Mai blinked.

"So, you only briefly told me the story with you and Yuu." Mai started, "I mean...for you to be _this_ down about it means you must _really_ be into the Pharaoh, hun..." Mai looked up, "You didn't, I mean...you know...do the deed?"

Jane blushed and Mai's eyes widened.

"...Must have been really good for you to behave this way." She added. Jane shook her head.

"No. We didn't..." Jane paused, "Even though I kinda wish we did. Not gunna lie. But nothing happened, and nothing's gunna happen. I'm just down because my stupid ass attention seeking ways has pushed me to the point to end it with both of them because they're angels and I'm a fuckin' piece of shit."

Mai sipped her tea and lowered the TV volume. "I hope I don't sound insensitive, but I was wondering..."

Jane looked at Emily with a raised brow. Emily sipped her tea to cover her face.

"From the way you explained how they came into this world...by theory, doesn't that mean that other fictional beings- I mean, that is, if anything you think of is a possibility and thus resulting in an alternate reality slash dimension...that really means that _anyone_ -"

"Do you have someone in mind, Mai?" Jane interrupted.

Mai blinked with her cup cradled in both hands.

"Maybe." She said. Jane laughed, assuming Mai was referring to an alternate Valon.

"You're right. In theory, he is." She said with a smile. Mai raised her eye brows seductively.

"Interesting." She said. Jane re positioned herself on the couch.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up. There's no way in ever reaching one of the dimensions that he's in without Yami's help. And no, I will not ask him. You're more than welcome to, though. Good luck." Jane said as she drank her tea, in a tone with absolute, and undoubted certainty that Yami would say no.

Mai smiled. "I wouldn't act on it, I was just curious."

Jane chuckled. "If you had the opportunity though, what would you say to him?"

Mai, "...what did _you_ say when you saw the Pharaoh and Yugi?"

Jane face palmed herself. "I thought they were cosplayers and then dropped a fuckin' rice bag in front of Yami, not to mention I called it spaghetti and was not wearing my cutest outfit. It was awful."

Mai laughed and Jane tucked her feet under a pillow. She was always cold.

"Well what would you say?" Jane insisted. Mai blushed ridiculously hard as she thought about it.

"Well, I don't know. I mean, is he just walking on street? Cause in that scenario, I'd wait for him to talk to me, but if we were in a room with people like a greeting, I'd probably just greet him properly." Mai said.

" _Oh, Valon, would you like to have some tea with us? Oh darn, you've spilled it all over my over sized bosom. Guess this shirt's comin' off-_ " Jane said in an accent. Mai laughed.

" _Will you take me home on your motorcycle for a wardrobe change?_ " She played along.

Both girls laughed.

"Nice, what a first impression." Jane said.

"Let's call it a day, hun. Wanna watch a scary movie or something?"

Jane nodded. "That sounds fucking great." She said, mentally exhausted lately.

A/N: This was an interesting chapter because originally, it was mean to introduce another character (real life friend) but realized that's too many OCs, and Lucia and Jane are plenty enough to worry about. It's a big shock to realize that even Diana has gone, she's still influencing the story as she was the origin of "FOR D" in the prequel "FORwarD".


	14. Vol 2 Ch 7: The Ill-Conceived Wedding

_Last Time on Savannah Georgia..._

 _Yami had dozed off, experiencing a dream that was full of Jane and only stressed him further...he had been lacking sleep. It was Junior's birthday, the gang gave him a remote controlled airplane which he very much enjoyed. Lucia has decided to start writing a novel, several in fact, and take her writing career more seriously while she gets through school. Link confides in Yami, getting the extra courage he needs to talk to Lucia that resulted in her returning his scarf to him with modifications as a gift. Link also asks Yami how he knew Jane was the one, and the two had a difficult but much needed talk. Later, Jane received a surprise text from Rebecka, who shocks her with news from Duke about her ex friend Diana. After all that drama, Link and Yami modified the unused basement for Joey and guests. After, Lucia almost catches Drew as Link at the stables, and though he plans to tell her soon, Drew's identity is yet to be known. Lucia, however, did confess to Drew that, though she enjoyed them, the lessons were only a means to get closer to find work for Link. A time skip occurs, Mai and Jane help set up for Joey and Mai's wedding and have a conversation about the multiverses and how they work._

 _ **Savannah Georgia ~ FORwarD Sequel**_

 _Volume 2 – Chapter 7:_ " _The ill-conceived Wedding._ " _  
Late April, A few days before the big day.  
The Master Suite, 2 in the afternoon  
The house  
Jane's P.O.V_

Bet you didn't expect to read things from my perspective, huh? It's been a while, I know. Cut the author some slack, I mean, an invisible Narrator is just so much easier...I mean, who is the narrator, anyway? God? Hmm. Anyway, it is super _hot_ today, and not in the way of hot guys living in our house, I mean literally hot. Apparently Spring is the shortest season here in Savannah Georgia and Summer is already approaching! And may I just say, it's timing is terrible because the AC in the house isn't working, and it's Sunday. Almost everything in the town is closed, so the only help we've got is the men in the house.

"No it's this piece." Link said, pointing to the paper manual. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you what's up. I'm in the living room right now with Mai, Lucia, Link, and Junior. Junior loved his remote controlled airplane so much, he's been into trying model airplanes, or rather, watching Link do all the work and enjoying the final product. Lucia decided to help him out, they're both reading the directions and gluing the pieces of wood as Junior plans on colours. As Lucia watched, she blushed while strictly holding a pillow to her face and watching Link. Yeah, she's still getting used to this fiction life. I remember my first few weeks, I couldn't be around anything sharp, it was like I was mentally ill.

"Oh, I get it. The little connector thingy." Lucia said, blinking as she tried to follow along. As they worked on that, I held my ice cold water bottle to my forehead in frustration.

"Seriously, it's hot as fuck." I complained. Link looked at me.

" _You're_ hot?" Link said. Oh right, Hylians warm up quicker, he must be dieing. Barely seconds after, Yami and Joey emerged from the basement, Joey in shorts and his blue t-shirt. Yami followed behind in his usual leather and light button up shirt. The simple usual. Which, by the way, I never get tired of. Even though I decided not to pursue Yami, doesn't mean he doesn't make a hell of a good eye candy... as does Joey...and as does Link... Oh boy, can someone please get the damn AC to work?!

"Hey, Link. Can you take a look at the vent downstairs?" Joey requested. "We think there's something stuck in there." Link looked up at Joey with a nod and I smiled. Link is the handiest guy around here when it comes to physical labour and what not.

"Sure," Link said, putting down the pieces and attempting to get up but failing when he felt he was being held down. He turned to look and realized that his hero tights were accidentally super glued to Lucia's jeans. My eyes widened and Link grunted his sexy grunt.

"Oh damn," He said, sitting back down, "How did this happen?"

Lucia whined when she noticed that the bottle spilled over them and they never noticed. She must be totally mentally freaking out.

"Just drop the tights, man." Joey said impatiently. We were all beginning to sweat, I am not exaggerating on the temperature here.

"Alright," Link said carelessly, slipping off his tights right against Lucia, both positioned awkwardly to allow him to do so, exposing his bare, muscly legs...I've seen his legs before though, Link was always one to not be shy when it came to his body. I remember that one afternoon, when Joey and Duke stole his clothes and I got an absolute beautiful front view of his-

 _Nudge~_ Mai nudged me to keep me from staring and I smiled a _thank you_. I wonder how often I do that. Lucia herself was also staring at that perfection and lucky for her, Link was too dense to notice. When his tights were off, he sighed almost as though it felt a bit better with less clothes on. Lucia was still glued to his sweaty tights and honestly, it didn't look like she minded at all. I wouldn't.

Yugi came down the stairs, wearing a light t-shirt and shorts, jogging to the front door to let Yugi in. When he closed the door behind him, he cringed.

"Aw, I was looking forward to an air conditioned place, but it feels even hotter in here!" He complained.

Joey looked away and Yami sighed. "I am afraid the AC is broken."

 _When Yami talks though_. I leaned back against the couch, it was getting warmer with more people in the room. Mai smirked.

"How did you get by without technology in Egypt, hun?" She asked, "Wasn't it always hot?"

"Pharaoh," Yami corrected, "At those times, civilians wore less clothing, but still. Going for regular cold swims was highly nessessary to stay hydrated at work. As Pharaoh however, there were always staff nearby to ensure that the King remained at a safe temperature."

"If only we had your staff now," Mai sweat dropped and Yami began to unbutton his shirt.

I blinked. Fucking _yes_. Yami was too classy to just remove it completely, unfortunately, but his shirt was complately open and it was a wonderful sight.

Yami rubbed the back of his neck, noticing sweat of his own picking up. Sadly, though, the boys all ditched us to go downstairs to work out the AC, except for Yugi who slipped on some running shoes and went right back out the door. He was out and about a lot lately with the wedding plans and being the best man, we just stopped asking him where he was going as it was often.

When they all left, I took advantage of the moment and I ruthlessly removed my shirt to cool down and revealed my bra when I sighed.

"I'm just about ready to die." I said, looking at Mai who was tieing back her hair to cool off as well. I was reffering to the heat, but it was also an impulse to take off my shirt after seeing the Pharaoh like that.

Mai sat down where Link had been and she raised her eyebrow when she noticed Link's tights attatched to Lucia's right leg, which Lucia slowly tried to remove it without ripping the fabric.

"...Woah, what happened here?" She said, just now noticing. I immagined she was assuming the worst of course. Lucia blushed and waved her hands.

"N-nothing! We accidentally got super glued together, that's all!" She defended.

" _Accidentally_." Mai and I said simultaneously and we high fived. We heard footsteps coming up again much sooner than planned and I panicked. _Fuck!_

I was just able to slip on my shirt on time when Yami and Joey returned. They both blinked when they noticed my shirt just came on and Joey Nyeh'ed. Yami sweat-dropped.

"I can't do this." He said to Joey, turning around and returning to the basement. Joey laughed.

"We were just gunna grab a couple of water bottles." He said, walking at a quick pace to the kitchen.

"Lucia, go hit on Link downstairs" I suggested. Lucia rolled her eyes.

"Come with me." She said.

"No."

"Why not? You're stupid pushy qualities will make it less awkward." She said.

"Because Yami will be in the room with an opened shirt. Too much distraction." I said.

"Hunny, Why are you always so damn horny all the time?" Mai asked and the girls snorted. I blinked. I could not believe Mai just said that.

"I am not _horny_ all the time. I am just-" I paused looking for the words and shrugged my shoulders with a smile, "honest and open about my sexuality! It's not my fault y'all are prudes."

The girls chuckled at me and I swear to God, I felt so damn promiscuous around them. Honestly, it's weird too because, up until college, I was the innocent one. Now look at me. I'm a terrible person who cheated on my boyfriend...maybe I am promiscuous...though, my not wanting to go with Lucia downstairs wasn't because of my _eye candy_ , it was because it would be too awkward. Yami just went down there to get away from me and no one wants to be somewhere they're not welcome.

"I'll go with you, Lucia." Mai smiled. "If that will help you and Link get closer."

Lucia smiled back. "It's alright, I'll just head on alone. Though I would't say I'm gunna hit on him.."

Lucia began her way downstairs and I just huffed from the heat and looked at Mai.

"Wanna come upstairs with me? I'm gunna get out of these tracks." I told her. She nodded and we both left the girls to go to mine and Lucia's room at the end of the hall.I immediately started stripping when Mai shut the door and put on a loose white t-shirt and a mini skirt in place of what I was wearing and honestly, it barely helped.

"Want to borrow something?" I asked Mai, when I noticed she still had on her leather skirt. She must be dieing too.

And just that second, we heard a disturbing noise coming from the attic. This time it was a scratching noise like something was trying to carve into the walls. Mai covered her ears and I arched my eyebrows.

"The hell was that!?" Mai said, frightened. I would have been too if I didn't hear noises from that thing so often and got tired of asking Link to inspect an empty room.

"I forgot to mention our stupid haunted attic," I decided to call it, "It's always making noises like that."

I climbed up into the crevasse and banged the little door, hoping the noise would stop. It did.

"Aren't you freaked out?" Mai asked me, taking a step closer. I nodded.

"Yeah, I was for a while, but I'm over it now. No one else can hear it, but Link has checked the place out so many times and it's always empty, so I just accepted that it's probably a couple of harmless ghosts. Even Yugi checked it out with the millenium puzzle, and he told me that it's picking up life forces of some kind, but it's nothing of shadows, so we're safe." I explained before realizing something. My eyes widened.

"Wait! You heard it too!?" I yelled. Mai nodded and I smiled.

"I'm not crazy!" I exaggerated. I knew I wasn't crazy, but it was a feeling of comfort. Then I remembered.

"It's way cooler in the attic, wanna come up?" I asked. _Cooler as in cold_ , by the way.

"Sure...?" Mai said with hesitation. I could tell she was a little freaked from the sounds. I banged the old wood and opened the door, something I've already mastered from the countless check ups on it. When it was open, I let myself in and let Mai ascend whenever she was comfortable. It wasn't as cold as usual, but it was fresher. I sighed in bliss, happy to be cooled off for just a moment.

I looked around again and frowned. The longest time I spent up here, I was under an emotional break down because of the huge mistake a made. Mai noticed my sadness because when she came up, she nudged me.

"What's wrong?" She asked. I fake smiled.

"Just sad memories." I was not about to go into details. Fuck no. "Look."

I walked around the attic, "The noises my steps make are the one's I hear at night all the time! The scratching is a bit more rare, but one time, I even heard voices. Almost like they were coming from far away."

Mai blinked. "Wow...It's hard to believe, but if characters exist in other realms, then ghosts have to be a thing, right? I mean at this point, I believe in everything."

I chuckled. "Honestly." I said. Mai touched her hair.

"So..." She started, "You should go downstairs with Lucia."

I jerked my head back surprised by this. "Why?"

"You told me that you're planning to give up on Yuu and Yami so, isn't getting used to being around him the best medicine?"

I could see where she was going with this but was that even possible? Will I ever be _comfortable_ around someone I am so heavily attracted too? I mean, I avoid Yuu like hell because when he's around I just want to behave like his girlfriend again and when I'm around Yami, I feel guilty because I know I promised him something that was impossible. Is there getting over stuff like that?

* * *

The Basement  
 _Lucia's P.O.V_

When I got downstairs, I blushed. Link was still without his tights, looking into the AC and still looking handsome as ever. Yami didn't look bad himself, standing near Link while looking at his phone for whatever reason. Then Joey was topless at the piano, looking through his deck and being no help as usual. I sweat dropped.

"Why do guys intinctively remove clothing when they're feeling hot?" I complained to Joey. "You don't see us girls stripping down."

"Nyeh?" Joey blinked. "I dunno, no one's stoppin' ya."

I did my best to pay attention while watching Link at the same time...as he leaned under the box, you can see his leg muscles tense up...

"So any luck with the AC?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I think Link's about ready to completely bash in the AC." Joey said, leaning on his hand against the piano, "If he doesn't get it working soon, they're thinking of going to the wedding hall early to help. At least it wont be so hot in there."

"Are you gunna help them out, too?"

"I don't know, I'm da groom. Don't you have a brides maid fitting to do?" He asked.

"No, that's just Jane. I just gave her company during her fittings." I said. Joey blinked.

"Oh. I guess I assumed that you were all going to be brides maids."

"I don't know Mai all that well," She shrugged. Joey raised a brow.

"Hyah!" Link yelled, "I GOT IT!"

Yami looked up from his phone and smiled, "Excellent. Great work, Link."

Link cracked his knuckles and looked our way. I stuttered when he smiled at me.

"The house should cool down in an hour or so." He explained to us.

"Great. Say, Pharaoh, wanna try working on that song?" He asked. We were all confused and looked at Yami. He blinked.

"Right now?" He asked.

"Why not, you guy's don't have anywhere to go until this afternoon, right?"

Yami and Link are working on a song? I had to stick around to hear this!

"He's not musically sound, but he's a hell of a song writer." Link smiled. "Just show me that script you had on your phone again and we can start adding music to it."

Yami paused, "I don't have a problem with that at all, Link. I just fail to see the purpose of this."

Joey brought his hand to his chin. "Well if you can write good music, that's already helpin' the Vocaloid team if you're willing to share the rights with Mai."

The Pharaoh looked down, "You can have full ownership, I only write them to help myself."

"Let's see it." Link said. I tried to look away when his tunic rose up a teeny put from his posture..Oh dear, any higher and I'd have to leave.

Yami cleared his throat.

"Which one do you want to see?" He asked. Link leaned up to look at his phone and pointed to it.

"Impossible?" Link blinked. "I never seen this one."

"It's...new." Yami said sadly. I wondered if Yami was actually going to sing this, so I pulled out my phone and started recording the boys. They were so into what they were doing, they failed to notice me.

"Ok, read it." Link said. Yami was usually poker-faced, but it seemed like he was hesitant. Still, he read it anyway.

" _I remember years ago, someone told me I should take caution when it comes to love. I did. You were strong and I was not. My illusion and my mistake. I was careless and I forgot. I did_."

I shuddered. Yami didn't sing his lines, he only read them. Still...it didn't take a scientific genius to figure out who the Pharaoh was talking about. He continued.

" _And now, when all is done, there is nothing to say. You have gone and so effortlessly. You have won. You can go ahead and tell them all I know now. Shout it from the roof tops. Write it on the skyline. All we had is gone now. Tell them I was happy, that my heart is broken and that all my scars are open. Tell them what I hoped would be impossible."_

"Wait, wait," Link interrupted, taking out his ocarina. "Ok, continue."

" _Falling out of love is hard but falling for betrayal is worse. Broken trust and broken hearts is something I know. Thinking that all you need is there and building faith on love and words...it's empty promises that will wear, I know."_

Link scribbled something on the note pad on the piano while he explored tunes on his ocarina. He explored sets of 3 notes, like he was trying to find something that worked. I don't know music so I wouldn't understand.

" _I remember years ago, someone told me I should take caution when it comes to love. I did."_

I felt like crying honestly, it was beautifully written. Yami looked at the boys, waiting for a comment, but Link was occupied and Joey was dumbfounded. The Pharaoh blinked.

"What are you two doing?" He asked. Good question.

Link held up a finger to say, _hold on_ as he finished scribbling. "Can I see the text on your phone?"

Yami passed him his smart phone and Link looked at it, copied some things from it and returned it.

"Ok, I like the idea to repeat the first line in the end. I think Impossible should be repeated..."

I stopped listening at the moment I stopped recording. I was moved by Yami's script. It was so incredibly sad, I had to leave the room. When I walked up the stairs, it felt like my feet were hovering like a ghost. They were so numb. I know the story of the drama between Yami and Jane, but I always got Jane's perspective. And even though Yami remained poker faced when he read from his phone, his words were as powerful as his expression when he first learned about Yuu. Completely fatal.

When I got to my room, the girls were in there, laughing and scrolling through internet memes. I couldn't join the mood, I felt a tiny amount of resentment for Jane. I wondered if she saw the video, she would change her mind and be with Yami? I mean, I would be completely bias in supporting him over Yuu, but I can't imagine that anyone is hurting more in this situation than Yami is.

"Hey Lucia, what's up?" Jane said when she saw me, "You good? You look like something died."

Oh, the way Jane uses her words. I smiled. "No, it's uh..."

"Did you get bored downstairs?" Mai asked me. I shook me head. Not even close.

"No, I just felt weird being the only one fully clothed down there." I said.

"I don't see a problem there." Jane winked and Mai laughed. I think Mai's presence the last few weeks has really made a difference in Jane's life. She has been laughing a lot more lately.

"By the way!" Mai spoke again, "Jane's not mental, hun. I heard the noises in your attic."

I jumped. That snapped me out of my sadness.

"WHAT?!" I said loudly, "When!?"

"Like half an hour ago, there were sounds of scratching like something was trying to break in." Mai explained. What the heck?

"So what's the deal, why doesn't anyone else in the house hear it?" I asked. Jane shrugged.

"I don't know, but I am so glad I'm not the only one anymore. And now that Mai's heard it, that just makes me more curious to learn more, despite what Yugi said."

I put my finger to my chin. "We have to consider anything, I mean. Nothing's fiction anymore."

Mai laughed sarcastically, "That's a frightfully good and bad thing."

"Keep theorizing," Jane jumped to her feet. "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Mai and I said at the same time. Jane pursed her lip.

"Anyone want anything?" She asked. We declined and she left the room. I took my chance because it was eating me alive.

"Mai, look at this." I faced my phone to her with the video I recorded and she watched silently. I could tell she didn't feel as strongly, after all, she lacks the patience I am. But when the video finished, she blinked.

"Wow," She said, "Poor guy."

"I wanted to share this because I felt so bad and...I wish I could do something." I said.

"Don't, Lucia." Mai said, "Don't get yourself tangled up in such a complicated situation."

"I didn't plan to, I just have pity for Yami." I sighed.

"I'm sure...the best thing we can do is just be optimistic around them and hopefully that positivist will become contagious and they can move on." Mai explained.

"Then again," she said, "That's a miracle that just may not be in their future, I don't think."

"Why not?" I asked.

"I don't know their relationship, but Jane has loved Yami for as long as she can remember. Plus, knowing Jane's annoyingly flirty personality mixed with the Pharaoh's passionate one, they are stuck like this." Mai said without looking at me, "I think the only fix is if they're together. Otherwise, it will always be weird between them. The chemistry was there and it will always be there."

I smiled and nudged Mai, "You wise woman!"

"Just speaking from experience." She said with heavy eyebrows. "I had to cut Valon out of my life if I ever wanted a fighting chance with Joey."

I laughed.

"Uh oh, getting cold feet before the big day?" I asked. Mai blinked.

"Not likely. How about you, darlin'. How did it go downstairs?" She asked.

"Link...fixed the AC." I said. Mai opened her mouth a little and pointed at my pants that still had Link's glued pair attached.

"You and Link are always creeping up on each other some how, aren't you?" She playfully said, "Aren't you going to get out of those jeans?" She asked. I sighed.

* * *

Downstairs  
 _Yami's P.O.V_

I ran into her in the kitchen. That wasn't a problem, it was something I must get used to. The problem was her attire. She wore a loose white shirt and an indecently short skirt to refrain from the heat. Had this moment been a few months ago, I would have loved to be in this position. Today, however. It's just painful.

"Did you get the AC to work yet?" She asked me. I imagined she was trying to make conversation to ease the tension. Part of me wanted to hate her for doing so, but it was better for me so I accepted it.

"Yes, Link was successful." I answered, rinsing the dust from the basement off my hands. She grabbed a tray from beneath the sink and began packing it with a few things from the shelves. I assumed it was for her and her friends.

"Thanks, I don't know how much more I could take of this. It's going to be a hot summer!" She said. This concerned me. Since I encountered her in the park that evening, she has become more comfortable in my presence...she was...happier. I wish I could say this was good...but it tormented my soul. The idea of her moving past all of this and living fueled me with darkness.

Because it was not with me.

"Yes it is," I had to respond with words. If I ignored her completely, I may have broken down. At that moment, I could sense someone approaching the front door. It was magnificent timing for myself to escape from the hell that was Jane and interact with another being. I opened the door for Joey, who came in with a long strapped bag hung over his shoulder. He wore a full black suit with a white tie and greeted me when he let himself in.

"Hey Pharaoh!" He smiled. Yugi was coming in behind him with the puzzle, able to let him pass to this realm. I nodded.

"Joey." I smiled back, "This is a surprise."

Jane came in from the kitchen and ran toward Joey. She jumped onto him, embracing him with utmost sincerity.

"JOEY! You look SO handsome!" She said as he spun around once after catching her. I was not suprised to see this, Joey was planning to be leaving soon for several weeks.

"Thanks!" He laughed, "is it too much? Duke told me that wedding's are for the bride and not to go too fancy and take her attention away."

Jane sweat-dropped. "Duke is an idiot. Still! You look just right, Joey. You're going to look great standing next to Mai!"

"Really?" He smiled, "I haven't seen her dress..."

Jane jumped in place, "You're going to be stunned! I'm so excited! Oh, are you coming to the hall to see what we've done while you've been gone?"

Joey nodded, "Yeah, that's why I'm here," He tapped his bag, "I brought all of Mai's plans to make sure we don't forget anything."

Yugi smiled. "Sounds like Mai."

"Great!" Jane said. I haven't seen her this happy in some time, "Let me just change and get the girls. LINK!," She yelled toward the basement door, "PUT SOME PANTS ON! I'll be right back."

The beautiful girl jogged her way up the stairs and I sighed. "Link and the girls have been at the hall for hours at a time each day," I explained, "Be sure to thank them properly. They're doing all that they can to ensure a memorable day for you, Joey."

"Not like the rest of us..." Yugi said sarcastically, as he's been working hard as well. I smiled at him, ensuring that I did not forget his part.

Joey nodded, "Thanks Pharaoh, I definitely will. It's going to be amazing, I mean, what could possibly go wrong?" The Wedding Day

* * *

 _The House  
Morning_  
 _Narrator P.O.V_

It was a long week, and all preparations have lead to the special day to celebrate the love of Joey Wheeler and Mai Valentine. Jane, Yugi and Rebecka were already at the hall with Mai, taking pictures and already getting a head start on one hell of a scrap book.

Duke had already been ready, however he decided to stop by the house. When he got there, the front door was already open. He assumed they've been in and out recklessly so many times to prepare. The idol let himself in and walked upstairs, intending to see Link but made a stop at the Pharaoh's room when he heard Joey and Lucia's voice coming from inside. The singer leaned against the door frame, watching.

"Yami's going to come upstairs, he will kill us." Lucia panicked in her cute blue dress, hair in curls, nails done and all. Joey waved his hand.

"It's Yugi's things, not his." He defended. _Still,_ Duke thought.

"Still!" Lucia said, watching Joey go through a drawer in the dresser in search of something he had lent to Yugi. "You don't have to show me right now, Joey. It's your wedding day."

"I know, but I also leave for my honeymoon after plus Kaiba's tournament and I don't know when they next time is that I'll visit again to show you." Joey said. Duke raised a brow.

"Aha!" Joey said, pulling an old school notebook from the drawer. At the moment, the Pharaoh joined Duke at the door, pokerfaced as usual. When Joey noticed him, he shivered.

"It was Lucia's fault." He instantly blamed. Lucia jumped.

"ME!?" She said. When Yami didn't respond, Joey only freaked out more. It was a funny sight, considering he was in his groom attire already.

"Lucia thinks your sexy." He said as a diversion and Lucia's jaw dropped.

"What are you, CRAZY?" She yelled. Yami smirked and walked toward his closet.

"I know." He said, opening the walk in closet doors.

Lucia flailed her arms for a second and chased Joey out of the room. Duke laughed.

"Nice for playing along." He said, watching Yami come out of the closet with the jacket to match his suit and a tie. He put it on at the mirror and Duke stood next to him, watching him adjust his tie. He admired his class, and tried to copy him. Although with the advanced technology that were ties, he quickly gave up and left his sloppy tie as is.

"You put me through that hell for a school note book!?" Lucia asked in the hall, looking at Joey with daggers for eyes. The boy skimmed through the note book, looking for a page.

"Yugi and I used to doodle in class all the time back in the day, including drawin' our own duel monster cards." Joey explained, "We thought we would design monsters for Pegasus one day."

Lucia raised a brow.

"Don't ask," he said, facing the book to the girl, "Check it out."

Lucia's eyes widened. "Is that-?"

"Yep." Joey smirked. "You can have this."

Lucia took the book and blinked.

"Yugi and I called him Kuro Neko." Joey said. As Lucia has been putting a lot of thought into writing lately, one thing she shared with Joey recently was that she wanted to write a story on super hero's because, though it was popular world wide, she thought Savannah Goergia needed a super hero unique to the town. She happened to mention cats as a concept since she spends so much time with Luna and Kitty now that she lives with them and Joey just _had_ to show her his old doodles. And for an amateur, they were pretty good. But what were the chances of her ideas having already been drawn out years before by Yugi and Joey?

"He's definitely got the long mask like I thought of." She said, "That's so so strange, what are the chances of this?"

Joey crossed his arms, "Beats me, I don't get how someone in this world wrote me as a character. The universe is full of coincidences."

Lucia smiled, "Thanks Joey, I'll reference this for sure."

Just then, Link came out of the room with a hyperactive and excited Junior, rolling up their sleeves and deciding not to wear the unessessary suit jackets, replacing them with suspendors. Lucia blinked. Link looked so handsome. He wore grey suit pants with a rolled up white undershirt and a green bow tie and suspendors. Junior was the same.

 _Oh dear_ , Lucia thought as she blushed.

"Dude, you're not wearing your hat to my wedding?" Joey blinked. Link grunted.

"The style doesn't really fit the dress code..." Link said uncomfortably, "I feel weird without it, but I think I can suck it up for one day."

Joey smiled, "Thanks, Link."

Link looked at Lucia and blushed. The blue flower in her hair to match her dress was so cute and her blue heals just highlighted her hips even more. Junior hugged her legs.

"You look soooo pretty Lucia!" He complimented. Yami and Duke emerged from the master suite.

"Let's head out guys, it starts soon!" Duke said, leading the way downstairs. Link looked at Yami.

"I wonder how much longer until they have children." He said. Yami closed his eyes and smiled. The thought of that would be astounding. How time just rushes past you before you have the chance to look.

* * *

When the group of friends arrived, they were surprised to find that Yugi had already let all of their friends pass over into this realm with the puzzle. And, by using the millennium key, put a barrier in the area to avoid any wanderers from leaving.

Yami was happy to see his tomb keeps and old friends, already mingling and finding their seats to begin the ceremony. He looked around curiously scanning the area in search for Jane – not to greet her, but to know the best path to avoid her. He had missed her early this morning as she left earlier than he had awoke, and he wanted to keep it that way as long as possible today.  
When he spotted her in the distance, he wished he hadn't. A pain struck in his heart when he laid eyes on her for the countless time. She was wearing her brides maids dress: a tight, off the shoulder style, front creeping down to a V-neck, showing more skin than he would approve of for a place like this. The dress was short as well, she wore short ankle boots that elongated her legs, his favourite. Her hair was especially gorgeous, half up in a bun and half down in curls. And despite sharing the same dress with 6 other woman in the room, she was the most stunning of them all. Yami closed his eyes, mentally cursing himself and wondering why he was so weak. He looked up again, this time paying attention to her surroundings and noticing she was with Rebecka...again.

That gave him mixed feelings considering that the young woman was partially responsible for her healing as of late. She leaned against Jane while conversing with Serenity and Tea, wearing a champagne coloured sweetheart neckline dress.

"Where's Mai?" Link asked when the friends entered the hall.

"She's hiding and waiting for everyone to be seated," Lucia explained with a smile, "Her dress is meant to be a surprise, right?"

Link stood there, gripping his suspenders in a lazy manner. "So where are we going to sit?" He asked.

Lucia smiled at Link as she lead the way.

Joey was at the front, shaking hands with guests and getting himself in place for the ceremony. He looked nervous and excited, but still behaving like a goof ball despite looking like a gentleman. He stood next to his best man, Yugi who shadowed him with a big smile of pride, also greeting the guests. Everyone eventually found their place to sit, front row occupied Joey's best friends: His friends from Domino City, Link and Junior and the girls of this realm. The brides maids and grooms men began to enter, Jane with her arm locked around Duke's, doing all that she can to keep her gaze straight and not meet the eyes of the Pharaoh who also refused to watch the couples approach the front. He personally turned down Joey's request to be a grooms men, feeling as though being partnered with her or not would be uncomfertable regardless. As they all found their place, everyone stood up and turned to face the back.

Mai's Vocaloid team was on a ramp next to the alter where they started playing the classic song, _here comes the bride_.

When Mai entered the hall, everyone's eyes were on her. She was absoltely beautiful, as everyone expected. Mai was already a gorgeous woman, so you can only imagine how even the Gods must be watching her now from her beauty that was inhuman. And as the ceremony went on, Jane looked to her right, hoping to finally look at how the Pharaoh dressed himself on this day without meeting eyes. Unfortunately, she found herself looking for too long, because surely the king looked back and she turned her gaze, trying to play it off and admiring Mai.

The ceremony was silent of course, everyone watching the couple at the front, some even begining to shed tears when they spoke their own written vows to each other and mentioning their meeting in Duelist Kingdom so many years ago. And after the lucky Joey Wheeler got to kiss Mai Valentine, everyone clapped and was most excited to sink their teath into the food. Mai and Joey guided the guests into the extended hall that Yugi, Link and the girls spent days preparing where everyone got to sit down and enjoy their meal before it was time to dance.

At the largest table of all, the one that shared the bride and groom, were the members of Joey and Mai's best friends. Yugi, Yami, Rebecca, Duke, Tristen, Tea, Marik, Jane, Lucia, Link, and Junior.

Rebecka sat back in her seat after getting her share at the buffet, happy that there were options considering her diet, and smiled as she admired her hard work all over the walls. Jane joined next to her, and wasn't even suprised that they brought back the same choices. They happen to enjoy the same food. Rebecka even returned with extra straws for herself and Jane, who both enjoy multiples in their drinks. Rebecka blinked when looking at the table next door as she handed two straws to Jane.

"The Pharoah's looking over here," She said, "Do you wanna look back...?"

At the awkward comment, Jane sweat-dropped and sunk her bendy straws into her glass.

"I don't think so..." She said, worried to ruin a good day with her drama. "He looks at me every time I do. With those eyes, I can feel his hatred." Jane said, not feeling sorry for herself as she truley feels deserving of it.

"Is it hard being at a wedding and all?" Rebecka blinked. Jane stuck her fork into her sushi, too frustrated and lazy to use chop sticks.

"Can we talk about something else? Anything else." Jane said overly happy, trying to pass as though she wasn't upset. Rebecka sweat-dropped at her failed poker face but decided to agree. Jane watched Link serve Junior in the distance and wondered where Lucia was.

"That's desert, Junior." Link said, putting the cupcake back near the buffet table.

"Then why are they out already? I don't want sea food, I want the pearls on the cake." Junior argued.

Link grunted in frustration. "You can have the cake after you have a proper lunch, buddy."

"But aren't we allowed to break rules on special days?" Junior answered.

Link twitched. "You're a growing boy, Junior. You need to eat healthier."

"Everyone's growing, not just me." Junior answered.

"Junior!" Link said, "Not here, please."

Junior starred at Link as his little hand attempted to sneak at the cupcakes and Lucia stopped him.

"Listen to you brother, silly." She said, "You'll get a stomach ache if you eat sweets first."

Junior struggled to serve himself real food from a table he couldn't really reach. Lucia helped him and watched the little guy walk back to the table, dodging the adults before taking a seat with Rebecka, Jane and Duke.

"I don't get it," Link said, rubbing the back of his neck and holding his plate with the other. "He listens to everyone else but me."

Lucia chuckled. "He's probably challenging you _because_ you're the one he has to listen to."

Link sighed, "He's getting smarter and questioning me a lot more," He said, "And as he goes to school, I wonder if I should let him go back to Hyrule and grow up there for a while."

Lucia blinked. "Who would take care of him?"

"We have friends back home who would take him in. Even Zelda would love to have him, Junior really gets along with her and he would have a whole castle to play in." Link explained. Though listening to Lucia talk while the entire room echoed with so many voices was difficult with Link's hearing. He wished he was seated in one of the tables that extended outside in the garden.

"If the option is so great, why haven't you sent him back?" Lucia asked. Link watched the cute little guy lick his fingers.

"I'd miss him. And there's more danger in Hyrule and I wouldn't be able to protect him from here." Link explained. "I think he needs a distraction."

"Why don't you enroll him in like an after school program? Like soccer, or karate?" Lucia suggested.

Link blinked. "Great thinking, Lucia. Maybe that's what he needs."

Lucia blushed. Getting complimented by someone like Link was an over achievement like she's ever heard of. Link looked at Lucia and couldn't help but remember that the last time he saw her with her hair done up was at the masquerade. He grunted at the memory and began to pay more attention to serving himself. Lucia began to do the same.

"The wedding is wonderful so far, I'm glad our hard work is paying off." She said. Link was just about to continue the conversation before he heard a certain name being spoken in the middle of all the conversations going on in the room. _Diana_.

He began to pay more attention, looking for the source and picked up on Jane's and Rebecka's voices talking to Duke and Joey about his... _ex best friend._

"So you were in contact with her all the time, eh?" Joey asked Duke when he came to make small talk with the neighbouring table.

Duke nodded. "Yeah, during the months she knew you, we were together every week up until just 2 weeks ago when I decided to call Rebecka and talk about all this."

Joey growled. "I can't believe how this all turned out."

"It's ok, Joey," Jane said, trying to end the conversation, knowing that Joey was in a similar position as she with the whole thing that went down with Dee. "Don't think about her today, this is about you and Mai."

"Yeh, I know," he said, "But I can't help but think about her now. I thought for sure she'd be here with us today celebratin'. I thought she would want to be here for her Slenderman."

Link cringed as he felt a migraine coming on. Lucia noticed his discomfort.

"Are you alright?" She worried.

"Well Joey, look at it this way," Jane prepared her bluntness, "Better she reveal her true colours before your big day then later and have her face ruin your album."

"I really wish I was there to see your dispute, Jane," Duke said with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not saying I doubt you, but it's real hard to believe she left us for such a small-"

"She did. I was just as shocked as you were, we've been through this." Jane said with a tone. "Can we not talk about this, anyway? This is Joey's wedding. I rather not."

Link held up his weight on the buffet table, nearly knocking down the spread. Lucia rushed to his side and helped him stay to his feet and he leaned on her, with an arm around her neck for support.

"Sorry," he grunted, "I don't know what's come over me." He lied.

"This has happened before, Link. After tonight, we should talk to the Pharaoh and get you some help." She worried. Link forced a smile.

"You're probably right..." He said, still focused on the other conversation.

Rebecka huffed. It seems everyone is dealing with their own drama and aren't even trying to have a good time.

"You'll feel better when everyone's done eating. You'll get to share your first dance with Mai." She tried. Joey nodded.

"Yeah, you're right." He said, looking at his bride, "That's enough of that, I'm going to give my attention to my wife!"

Jane smiled at this as Rebecka nudged her.

"So, everyone's dealing with their own drama," She said in a fearful tone. Jane raised a brow, questioning it.

"Yeah." She said.

"And with everything going on, you can't assume it can get worse, right?" Rebecka said.

"...Right..." Jane looked at Rebecka suspiciously. She sighed.

"It just did." Rebecka said in utter shock. "Diana just texted Duke."

Link's eyes widened and his blue iris's were sparking red and his black pupils shrunk in size. His body began to shake and he was losing control of his body. Lucia held him up and some of the nearby guests were starting to stare.

"Link, I'm really worried, let's sit down." Lucia said and Link pushed his forehead against Lucia's neck as it was the nearest and only shelter as he tried to contain himself.

"N-...n-no," He said, "help me get outside, please, Lucia. I need to get out of here." He said in a scratchy voice, struggling to not completely destroy the buffet table for therapy. Lucia nodded, grabbed a wrapped sandwich from the table for Link and helped him walk out of the hall, away from the guests outside and into the garden. He was barely able to bend his knees to successfully sit himself down on a pair of concrete stairs but thanks to Lucia, he was able to. He grabbed a stone, large enough to fill his palm, from the ground as he shook and crushed it in his hand. Lucia blinked in shock at his strength but still kept her hand on his arm, trying to calm him down. It wasn't working.

Link didn't know why this was happening. He was confident that he was moved on from it all, he's even developed feelings for Lucia now and thought for sure that would end any migraines from happening and yet, when he hears Diana's name, it triggers something in him. Whether it was anger, regret, sorrow, or trauma...something inside of him was trying to get out and every time he succeeded in keeping it at bay, but it was getting harder and harder.

Lucia was in deep pain watching Link struggle with whatever it was he was going through. She wondered if it was some sort of sickness and hoped to God it wasn't anything life threatening.

"Link...?" She asked. Link grunted at her voice.

"A voice..." Link managed to say, cradling his head in both hands now. Lucia got up from the stairs and leaned in front of Link so that she was below him in the angle to look at his face. She put her hands over his on his face gently.

"Link, please talk to me. I'm really worried about you." She said sincerely. "It hurts so much to see you like this, it makes me want to cry."

When Link heard a crack in her voice, he opened his eyes that felt glued shut before. He looked through his blurry vision at the girl, noticing that her eyes were crystallizing with moisture. And when he saw the panic in her eyes, he felt his heart rate begin to slow...and he was finally calming down, beginning to fight off this presence inside of him. Any moment he looked away, it would get worse, so he starred at Lucia and tried to match his breathing with hers. She was extremely flustered being starred at by the handsome elf, but she noticed it was helping so she bravely looked back as her eyes began to dry.

Link's shaking and heavy breathing finally settled, he sighed in relief when it was over. Lucia lifted her hands off his face and instead put them on his knees.

"Are you ok, now?" She asked. Link let his hands fall to his knees and grabbed her hands.

"Yeah..." he said in a breathy voice, "Yeah, I think so."

Lucia blushed at his touch and Link clenched his grip.

"Thanks, Lucia." He said.

Lucia grabbed the sandwich from the stairs and gestured it to Link, using it as an excuse to get away from his touch as she was too shy to handle it.

"Eat something," She said, "It might help."

"I sort of lost my appetite," Link said, rubbing his head as he was feeling suddenly exhausted.

"Please? It will give me peace of mind." She said. Link looked at her and half smiled, taking the sandwich and removing the plastic wrap. After he took a bite, he returned it to Lucia with the intention to share and she smiled. Though the both of them had so much to say, the two silently enjoyed the sandwich and each other's company.

* * *

Everyone clapped as the twins of the Vocaloids were just about finished performing their first dance song, _Remote Control_. The two performed on the dance floor to encourage the guests to start dancing and filling the floor. Rin got Mai up very easily and everyone was having a good time for the most part. Len happily singing and playing with the guests and Junior, who tried to copy Len's dancing and followed him around the floor. It was absolutely adorable to watch.

 _Wooooo_ , everyone cheered when Len ended their song with a back flip. The Kagamines smiled and waved, Len adjusting his head set.

"Ok! Next song will actually be sung by a guest and very good friend of the grooms." Len said, catching everyone's attention.

"Are you sure you're ok to go back inside?" Lucia asked Link once more when they returned from outside. Link nodded.

"Thanks Lucia, I think I'll be ok," He said, "besides, we already missed some of the performances. We should be around for Joey."

Lucia nodded.

"Yami!" Len said on the mic, "Come up, please. "

The Pharaoh had a glass of wine in his hand and _sweat-dropped_ at being called Yami on a speaker system and then realized he was being called up to sing. He blinked when everyone looked at him.

"I beg your pardon?" He said from standing by his table and interrupted from his conversation with Yugi, who was equally as suprised. Jane was the most surprised of all, wondering if she should run out of the hall.

"Go on, let's put that practice to good use." Link said. "For Joey!"

Tea began to clap her hands in Rythym. "Phar-aoh, Phar-aoh, Phar-aoh, Phar-aoh..." She started the crowd to encourage and sure enough, everyone wanted Yami up there. Jane's heart was racing 100x faster than the crowd chanting. She clinged to Mai's dress to feel closer to someone.

"You want to leave?" Mai asked. Jane didn't answer. As much as she wanted to, she also really wanted the Pharaoh to go up and sing. That would be a magnificent treat for someone as big of a fan as she was. Yami remained poker faced and turned to Yugi.

"What do you suppose I do, Yugi?" He asked. He wasn't shy to go up and sing for Joey and Mai. The question was, could he go up there and sing his own song inspired by a woman who would be watching?

Yugi looked at the Pharaoh and then at Jane, feeling the tension between them and wishing for them both that they would just stop being stubborn and be together. Maybe if Jane heard Yami's song, it will be the push she needs to go to him? Yugi smiled.

"I think you should sing, Pharaoh." He said. Yami ignored the chanting crowd.

"What if I-" Yami stopped. What if he stops half way and can't finish? She will be watching.

"You'll be fine," Yugi encouraged, "We've done tougher things than this."

Yami smiled back and then looked at Jane who looked back. With a straight face, he turned around and began his way on the stage like the fearless king he is and everyone cheered. Jane's heart was racing faster than ever, she wondered if she'd have a heart attack. She was so excited to hear Yami sing an entire song right on stage. She wanted to hear what song that he would choose so she quickly took a seat with Mai and Joey as close as possible, but not close enough that would make Yami uncomfortable. After all, he still wanted nothing to do with her and she did not want to intrude on his feelings.

"I can't believe he's going to sing, I heard him sing one line before but never a full song!" Jane said, shaking in her seat next to Mai. Mai raised a brow with a grin.

"Glad to see your spirits risen," She said.

"I wonder what song he'll sing." Jane guessed, "Something in English?"

When Yami got to the stage, Len handed him a mic with a nod of encouragement.

"Let this be the moment of truth," Len said only for Yami to hear.

"Which song are we playing?" He asked.

"You're favourite, according to your friend, Link." Len said. Yami was afraid of that. "Say something." Len encouraged.

"It's Pharaoh, by the way." Yami said on the mic to Len and everyone laughed. Len rolled his eyes with a smile and gave the stage to the king. Yami put the mic on the stand, worried he would drop it from his nerves and the room became dead silent, you could hear people fidget.

"Uh," Yami cleared his throat. "This song is dedicated to my dear friend Joey and his new wife, Mai..." Yami struggled to add the last half, "...This song is called _Clarity._ I wrote it myself with the help of my friend Link about...an experience."

Lucia's jaw dropped and she looked at Jane on the other side of the room.

Jane's smile vanished. She was stunned. _Yami wrote a song!?_  
She was completely frozen. She didn't know how to feel or react so her body responded with suspended animation. The music started playing and everyone was as curious as she was to hear, not only the Pharaoh sing and check out of he was any good, but to hear the lyrics. And so it started. "High dive into frozen waves where the past comes back to life." Yami started in a breathy tone, still warming himself up to the mic and the mood. Jane wondered what that meant. Perhaps his Egyptian life. Frozen waves...as though his past hurts? But he loves being Pharaoh.

Where was he going with this?

"Fight fear for the selfish pain, it was worth it every time." Yami continued like a whisper, quietly scanning the crowd and wondering where she put herself. Fighting fear for the selfish pain...Yami fought the fear of the possibility of Jane being taken by Yuu all for the selfish want of being with her...which turned out to be extremely painful. And each time, he felt it was worth it.  
Jane watched and listened. Worth it? Every time?

"Uh oh..." She said quietly. She knew exactly where this song was going.

"Hold still right before we crash 'cause we both know how this ends."

"Oh no...God, please..." Jane said, putting her hand over her mouth, still hoping she was wrong.

"A clock ticks 'till it breaks your glass and I drown in you again." Yami's voice deepened at the end of that one, finally getting the hang of it. The room was tensing up when the kings friends began to realize where this song was coming from.

Jane shut her eyes tightly for a moment when she picked up that line being from when she was sick. Yami dropped the cup and left suddenly. She hoped she was wrong as to why, but turns out Yami is still in just as much pain now as he was all spring. Mai rubbed her back, trying to comfort her.

"'Cause you are the piece of me. I wish, I didn't need." Yami's singing was beautiful. Everyone took turns looking at Jane, curiously wondering how she was responding.

"Chasing relentlessly. I still fight and I don't know why~." Jane's eyes watered when she finally accepted that this song was about her. It was all too much. Too much. Yami, her fictional husband has been hurt by her, wrote a song, is singing it in front of her, beautifully, about her and how he's still fighting. What was she suppose to do?

"If our love is tragedy, why are you my remedy? If our love's insanity why are you my clarity?"

Yami paused to take a breath and instead lost one when he finally found Jane in the crowd, in a seat she was not assigned to with Mai. Watching. He tightened his grip on his mic sternly. If he can't make it through a 3 minute song. He's doomed. This was a challenge to him.

"Walk on through a red parade and refuse to make amense," He said, referring to being with her in the red, Chinese exhibit in the museum when she was trying to make up with him and he refused because he had just learned the truth about Yuu.

"It cuts deep through our ground and makes us forget all common sense." Yami nearly chuckled at the irony of that one. Even knowing about Yuu, neither of them seemed to care what was right or wrong or what would be common sense to others. They just couldn't be apart. "Don't speak as I try to leave, 'cause we both know what we'll choose." Yami sang, starting to feel weaker when he saw Jane force herself to look away. She whiped her eyes with the back of her fist and when Yugi noticed this, he hoped it was a good thing.

"If you pull then I'll push too deep and I'll fall right back to you."

Jane exhaled rougly from tears as she couldn't hold it back anymore. She had her elbows on the table and watched despite her pain because it was too beautiful. He was beautiful. And when he sang that line, he looked straight at her. The distance was close enough to see that he was trying to say something, but it was too far to notice her tears and she was greateful for that. Rebecka stood up and went to Jane, wondering if she should get her out of there since Mai could not, or if this was even good for her.

"'Cause you are the piece of me I wish I didn't need. Chasing relentlessly. Still fight and I don't know why. If our love is tragedy, why are you my remedy? If our love's insanity, why are you my clarity?"

Yami refrained parts of the song and Jane asked her self the exact same question. Just as Yami neared the end of the song, Jane heard enough. She stood herself up from her seat and forced herself to walk out, ignoring any hard stares her way. When she got outside she turned around the building and when she was alone, she crouched herself into a ball and let herself have it. Water works at its's finest.

"That was..." Link said in suprise as Len slowly and awkwardly took the microphone from the Pharaoh. Everyone in the hall applauded for his performance. The king scanned the room confused, wondering where Jane had gone when he spotted Rebecka alone. He speed walked off the stage to where she sat, grabbing a glass of water off the table to relieve his tension.

"Rebecka, where has Jane gone?" He asked. She sighed, not having the slightest clue what Jane would want her to reply with, so she settled for the truth.

"She's outside." She said. Yami gulped the water quickly before strutting his way out after her. He nearly crashed into Lucia on the way out, who joined Mai and Rebecka in Jane's place.

"That was intense, don't you think?" She asked. Rebecka pursed her lip.

"Did I do wrong in telling him where she was?" She worried. Lucia shook her head.

"None of us know what the hell to do about those two anymore." She added. Mai raised her brow.

"Where were you when the team started the party?" She asked.

"Link wasn't feeling well, so I was helping him." She answered. Rebecka sighed again and pulled Lucia aside.

"This wedding is not going well at all, is it? I mean, is anyone having a good time?" She asked. Lucia looked up at Link, noticing his exhaustion from the migraine.

"Nope." She said.

"Link, where's the Pharaoh?" Yugi came in suddenly. Link face palmed.

"I don't know, Yugi!" He said in frustration, just wanting to go home, "After he sang, he left the stage and I haven't seen him since."

Yugi looked worried and Duke noticed this.

"Woah, Yug. What's wrong?" He asked.

"Before the Pharaoh went up to sing...he told me he was going to _take care_ of himself." Yugi quoted.

" _Take care of himself_?" Duke repeated. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know. I just wish I knew where he was." He answered.

* * *

Outside

The Pharaoh walked around the gardens, looking for Jane and hoping she wasn't too upset with him for exposing their problems in front of everyone. Part of him was proud that he was able to get through the song without ruining his eyeliner, but part of him regretting having going up there and risking ruining any progress that he may be unaware of. When Yami came to a corner, he found Jane curled up on the floor with her head in her knees, sobbing and ripping up a flower in her hands. His first instinct would be to run to her side and make things better but he knew that, ironically, he would only make things worse for both of them. The king clentched his fist when he felt his chest ache from seeing her that way. But it wasn't his fault! He made it clear he wanted her, it was she who made her choice. If she wanted things to be better, she should have came crying into his arms. But she didn't choose him, she chose Yuu. That's why she didn't. She was doing this to herself and how could he save her from herself? And how much more of this pain could he take? Yami looked at the sun that was preparing to set on the other side of the sky and decided that he couldn't take anymore and this was the last straw. He sent Yugi a text on his phone and began a strict walk outside of the garden toward the parking lot.

He got into his car, adjusted his mirror and inserted his keys into the ignition.

"I suppose even the King of Games can't win them all." He said to himself as he drove off into the city.

Jane finally got the last of her tears out and stepped on the crushed flower ruthlessly.

"You're just hurting everyone, aren't you?" She said to herself, stomping the flower again, "You just couldn't tell Yami that you had a boyfriend from the begining. No. You had to lie to him-" She stomped again, "You had to trick him-" again, "and you had to BREAK THE HEART OF YOUR FICTIONAL HUSBAND!" She stomped over and over again, screaming at nothing and crushing what was a pile of dust now.

"Are you done?" A voice interrupted her and she looked up in suprise. It was Link.

"Link." She said, catching her breath, "...I'm sorry you had to see that."

Link pushed his hands in his pockets. "s'okay." He said, "But I'm going to have to pull you away from this area..."

Jane blinked. "Why?"

"You murdered that flower in cold blood." He smiled, "You should be arrested."

Jane picked up on Link and played along with a sigh. "You're right. I belong in an insane asylum."

Link walked to the girl and put his arm around her. "I'll pardon the offence if you come inside and support your friend on his wedding." He said. Jane stiffened.

"I don't think I can face Yami yet after all that." She said looking away.

"Yami's not inside." Link answered simply. Jane looked at him fast.

"What do you mean? Where is he?" She asked. Link shrugged.

"That's a question everyone's asking. We haven't seen him since..." Link paused at the tension, "Well you know."

Now she was worried. It wasn't like Yami to pick up and leave his best friend's wedding. Not unless it was some kind of emergency. Where would he go?

* * *

 **A/N: So! If anyone is interested, I actually have an edited track of Yami singing Clarity ~ It's not the voice of Dan Green, but it sure as heck sounds like him. So message with the request. Also, so many feelllssssss right? What's up with all this drama going on, even with Duke. What will happen?**


	15. Vol 2 Ch 8: The Dark Ones

**Savannah Georgia ~ FORwarD Sequel**

 _Volume 2 – Chapter 8:_ "Dark Ones _._ "

 _Narrator's_ _P.O.V_

Deep In the City

The sun was setting now and the roads in this particular area was empty. Yami pulled in his car right in front of a creepy looking pawn shop in the most deserted part of Savannah Georgia. He wasn't uncomfortable though, he's been here before. He looked at the sign that read, " 's. Pawnbroker and Antiques Dealer." Yami sighed.

has been wanting to make a deal with him for a while, ever since they first met. The only problem was that the Pharaoh refused to get tangled up with magic from the shadow realm, no matter what the circumstance. He and Yugi went through hell and back to defeat the shadows and yet...now Yami was considering accepting help from it. Never in a million years did he think he would turn to the shadows for help. Ever.

Yami got out of the car and adjusted his tie. His third eye sensed that things were safe for now so he followed his senses into the pawn shop where was waiting.

"Ah, Pharaoh Atem." The man greeted, "What a lovely surprise."

Yami walked toward the back of the shop to the counter where wiped down a goblet.

"Good evening." The Pharaoh said, looking around and noting a few changes made to the shop.

"Aren't you meant to be at a wedding right now?" asked, "What ever brings you here?"

Yami noticed that was playing ignorance but he did not react. He knew that was simply acting out in excitement because he knew he was finally going to get his deal.

"I've come to negotiate," Yami said. "Dark One."

smiled. "Glad you've finally come to your senses."

The man put down the goblet and turned around. He removed a painting on the wall to reveal a hidden safe. He put in the code and opened the metal door, reaching in and pulling out a small black box. He placed it on the counter in front of him, letting out squeals that he would normally let out as his original self, Rumpelstiltskin.

Yami kept his poker face on when the Dark One's true, crocodile self emerged beneath his skin. "How do you know that whatever is in there will help when I have not yet told you what I require?"

smiled again. "Why are you pretending as though this is your first visit, Pharaoh?" He paused, "If I recall, you were so disappointed with how love was treating you. Are you really going to tell me that this isn't about your beloved Mary Jane?"

Yami stayed silent for a while before responding. "Very well. What can you offer me?"

"That depends on what you want to do." Rumple answered, "Love is tricky business."

"It's simple. I just want to speed up my recovery and move on." Yami summarized.

"So you want to fall out of love, is that it?" rephrased. "A popular request indeed."

"Good. Then it is within your reach to assist me." The Pharaoh added. sighed.

"I am surprised. I thought you would ask me to have Yuu disappear forever. Or perhaps make Jane call things off with him once and for all and be free to be with you. Those requests would be far less...dangerous." He explained. Yami kept his poker face as usual.

"I wouldn't need the shadows to accomplish either of those tasks, I could do both myself." He said. was intrigued.

"Interesting. So why not do that rather than turn to dark magic?" He asked. The Pharaoh put his hands on the counter, sensing this conversation was going to take longer than planned.

"Because, both those options would interfere with her freedom of choice. I could not live with myself knowing that she was with me against her will." The king explained. Rumple played with his fingers.

"Well aren't you the noble hero." He said. "Very well...last time I did this was for a princess."

opened the box to reveal a small vile of potion. "The only way to fall completely out of love with someone, is if you forget they ever existed entirely."

The Pharaoh's eye's widened. "What!?" He said with a tone. "I have to forget her? No. That is out of the question."

"For something as serious as falling out of love...I'm afraid the sacrifice must be...extreme." explained. Yami growled as he watched who was clearly enjoying his desperation.

"No." Yami answered. "I decline. The only thing worse than not loving her is not knowing her."

Rumple raised a brow. "I promise, you wont think that way if you take this potion."

"No deal, Rumpelstiltskin." The Pharaoh said and sighed, returning the potion into the box.

"Then I am afraid you'll remain in pain, Pharaoh because that is the only way." He explained. Yami clenched his fist.

"The only way?" The Pharaoh asked as Rumple turned around to the safe, "Really? I guess the Dark One's reputation is greatly exaggerated. I thought he would be able to do anything."

turned around pretending to be insulted. "True Love is the most powerful magic of all, Pharaoh. I was the only one to ever bottle it. Trust me when I say that memory loss is the only way to escape it." Then Rumple realized something...because his eye widened when he noticed the kings third eye act up and the Dark One reacted with a great smile. "Unless..."

Yami blinked. "Unless?" "Perhaps there is another way," Gold squealed, "A way that you can fall out of love without any harsher consequence."

waved his hand over the potion and the transparent liquid inside gained a black aura.

"This should work." He said and Yami quickly became suspicious.

"Just like that?" He asked. "You finished telling me that there was no other way and now you've found one?"

smiled. "This will work if you are willing to give me what I want in return."

The Pharaoh crossed his arms. "Which is?"

"Your third eye." Rumple pointed and the Pharaoh raised both brows in surprise. Of course. The power of the Dark One with the power of the ancient Pharaoh is sure to create magic strong enough for what he needs. But is it worth the risk? Just handing over the Pharaoh's power to a lunatic like Rumpelstiltskin?

"What do you want with my powers?" Yami asked.

"For a rainy day?" Gold said with sarcasm, "Why wouldn't I want with the powers of the Ancient Pharaoh? The One capable of summoning three powerful Gods and sending any being to the realm of shadows?" Gold was animated as he described the Pharaoh, reenacting his power.

"Fair enough," Yami understood, "But you must know that my powers aren't compatible with a dark one such as yourself. You'll never tap into it's potential well enough to summon the Egyptian Gods."

"Well then, what's the harm?" Rumple shrugged with a giggle. Yami's eyebrows arched in suspicion like they never have before. He was confident that, even if he let the Dark One have some of his powers, he would never be able to use them to anything immensely dangerous anyway. But why did he want it then?

"What's in this for you?" Yami asked.

"The question isn't what's in it for me, it's what's in it for you." answered. Yami sighed in defeat.

"Alright, Rumpelstiltskin." He said, "If you can be certain that if I drink that, I'll no longer be in love with Jane, then you have yourself a-"

"Now hang on a moment, I haven't explained to you what the price will be." said, "All magic comes with a price."

Yami sighed impatiently, "I already agreed to give you the powers of my third eye. Is that not payment enough?"

"That only pays me for giving you the magic," Rumple said with a wave of his crazy hand, "There is still a cost for taking it."

Yami ignored the Dark One as he did laps around him. "What's that?"

"If you drink this potion, or if Jane sees this herself as the product of your pain, you are accepting the price, even if you do not end up drinking it." explained, "That's how powerful this stuff is."

Yami shrugged. "I intend to drink it. What's the price, Gold?"

"The price to forget your true love will result in Jane falling under a unique type of curse."

"What sort of-" Yami intervened too quickly.

"The Multifarious Heart Curse!" He said with excitement, stopping his lap around the Pharaoh in front of him. "This curse will cause Jane's heart to split into an infinite amount. As many as there are realms in this world, more than you can count. So, should Jane encounter any of these realms...let's just say, her heart will reset itself. She will be doomed to fall in love over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again so long as she keeps running into these strange universes." Gold explained. Yami sighed.

"Is that all?" He said, "Jane does not and will not do any realm travelling of any sort. Taking that potion would mean she would only be at risk with becoming involved with Link..." Yami paused, "...that being unlikely. And if I will no longer be in love with her myself, it will not be a problem of mine."

Rumple smiled deviously, as though he had other intentions up his sleeve but the Pharaoh did not fear him. Just because he won't be in love with Jane anymore, doesn't mean he wont forget to be cautious and take care of her like he would any of his friends. In fact, he was considering this a lucky price. Because Jane does not have the ability to cross realms and thus would not be subjected to such a sad curse. She would be able to stay with Yuu like she always intended and the king could finally get over it. The Pharaoh remained silent a few seconds longer while looking at the scaley Dark One and smiled.

"I don't know what you have planned, Rumpelstiltskin. Just know that if it has anything to do with hurting me or those I care for, you're forgetting who I am." He reminded.

"Trust me," Gold said, "I know who you are."

"That being said," Yami said in a louder volume, over Rumple's voice, "I accept the terms of your deal."

Gold jumped and squealed in place, clapping his hands in excitement like a child would on their birthday.

"My, my, Pharaoh," He said, "I've been waiting centuries to hear those words."

"Centuries...?" The Pharaoh said in confusion. Then the Dark One took a shell shaped locket from the counter and held it up, presenting it to the Egyptian King.

"I got this from sea witch in another realm," He said, "Please transfer your third eye in here."

The word centuries almost worried the Pharaoh, but he decided not to pay mind to it. The Pharaoh focused his third eye on the locket and allowed a duplicated fraction of his powers to be transferred into the golden shell. When the task was complete, Rumple held out the little potion toward the king, who hesitated for a moment and then took the bottle from the dark wizard. Yami looked at the little vile, ensuring that it was tightly sealed and put into into his suit pocket. He looked back at Rumple.

"Thank you." He said, turning around.

"Thank _you_ , Pharaoh." Rumple said as the Pharaoh left his shop, "Thank you very much..."

Yami opened his car door and sat in the drivers seat quietly to himself. He pulled out the little bottle and looked at it with a sad expression. With no one around, Yami was free of his poker face and he slammed the wheel in front of him, setting off the horn. Was this a mistake? He knew better then to make deals with Rumpelstiltskin. But he was desperate. It hurt too much seeing her every day and having to live with the pain. Still.

The Pharaoh put the bottle back in his pocket and decided to wait just a bit longer so he would be given the time to talk to her once more as himself. As the man who loves her.

* * *

 _Back at the wedding, while Yami was meeting ..._

After Yami had left, people began to settle down and return to the party. Mai was dancing with Jane, Lucia, Link Duke and Joey, who was asking all kinds of questions now that he knew Duke was in touch with Diana recently. Very recently if you count the text that Diana had sent to him, asking him why he hasn't been as quick to respond.

"Do you think Diana misses me?" Duke asked, "She never mentioned the good looking, talented, all around Duke Devlin."

Then Marik, another friend of Yugi's, joined in the conversation.

"Why do you care so much, Duke? Did you have a crush on her, or something?" He asked. Link growled to himself, trying to remain calm about the whole thing and hoping it would be over soon. It was hard to collect himself when he had the migraine, but learning that Duke has been in contact with Diana this whole time is...disgusting. They were getting along recently for once and he never thought of telling him, even after he confessed about Drew?

"Nah, I didn't like Diana that way, it was strictly friendship." Duke answered and Link twitched. Was he joking? All the flirting, and the dates? How can he say that?

"How can you say that?" Jane said as though she read Link's mind. "You didn't like Diana? What was all the sweet talk for? I'm pretty sure I remember you guys going on a date last October."

Link's ears perched. He wasn't sure if Jane was defending Diana, or just countering Duke's story.

"It's called slumming it, Jane. I thought you knew that." Duke said. Jane blinked.

"Sorry, I must have missed it over all smash brothers playing and gift giving." Jane sweat-dropped.

"Are you mad or something? I thought you didn't like Diana anymore." Duke shrugged, "Didn't think you'd care."

"I don't," Jane said, "Not about her. But I'm kinda disappointed in you Duke. You're better than to deceive a girl like that."

Duke smiled as the music went on.

"I thought I was doing the girl a favour. She was too naive for her own good." He explained, "She needed a good dose of reality."

Jane's eyebrows dropped. "Sounds to me like you just wanted a good dose of her virginity."

Link's head began to hurt once again. Duke chuckled.

"Maybe I did." He said, "Wanted to know what it would take to break her."

Link was growling and Lucia rubbed his back, worrying that it was coming back again. Rebecka shrugged.

"Dee is a hard one to break. She's way too insecure." She said, turning to Jane, "Should he even reply to her right now?"

Link looked at Duke harshly, "It's too bad she's gone now. You never broke her and you never will."

Duke chuckled and leaned in toward the Hylian, who struggled to keep himself together.

"Who said I didn't?" He said and Link pushed Devlin's shoulders back. It was a weak push, considering Link was paying more attention on the dark migraine in his head shooting voices and darkness throughout his consciousness.

"Woah, Link!" Jane said, angrily. "That was uncalled for."

Lucia stood in between the two guys, facing Link with gentle eyes to reassure him that he was going to be ok.

"Link, do you need to go outside, again?" She asked. Link took deep breaths, watching Lucia who calmed him.

"No." He said in a breathy voice, "Sorry Duke, I don't know what came over me."

"You're upset because I didn't tell ya, I get it." Duke said.

Junior heard the tension with his strong little ears and hopped his way over to them.

Duke put his hands up defensively. "It's cool. I don't know why you're defensive about her anyway. I mean, she left."

Jane poked Duke in the left arm. "You were joking about banging Diana, right?"

Duke smiled. "You guys were best friends. You should know."

Jane sweat-dropped at the sound of that. "I wouldn't know. Before she left, I thought she wouldn't. Just shows how little I knew about her."

"Well trust me, I did." Duke said, "I did raw. You should have seen it, like korking a roast pig."

Link twitched again, slowly pushing Lucia away in fear he'd hurt her.

"She would never have been with someone like you," Link defended. Lucia ignored Link's gesture and pulled herself close to him. Part of her was desperately trying to remind him that she was there...because she was extremely jealous that the topic of Diana was getting Link so riled up.

"Of course she would. She was. It happened the night of our date," Duke added, reminding Link of the night he was sick while Duke and Diana went off into the night. Link growled again, his eyes tinting red. "Get real Duke," Jane stopped him, "How did it happen that night if that's the night Diana bought Link that scarf? It's just all hard to believe."

Duke laughed, "Ok, ok. I didn't get far with Diana. It's because she was always after Link but he never gave her the time of day. I mean, if she was around just a few more weeks, I'm sure I would have gotten that pussy."

Link's migraine intensified and he held his hands against his head and Lucia didn't let him go for a second. At that moment, the Pharaoh had returned and just walked in the conversation. Though it was weak, his third eye picked up a lot of tense emotions, and decided to listen in on the conversation and learn why before his initial intent to speak to Jane was acted upon.

"Duke, cut it out." Junior said. Duke smiled.

"What's wrong Link? You still love her? I thought you were screwing Lucia now, or are you only doing that as Drew?"

Everyone's eyes widened, including the Pharaoh's. No one was expecting that. Lucia was the most surprised and confused. _As Drew_? Was that a joke? Lucia looked at Link who's eyes were as deep red as ever and he no longer looked like he was in pain...at that exact moment, Link threw himself against Duke, knocking him against a table and onto the floor, breaking glass on the way and startling everyone. The now uncontrollable elf was throwing punches at the dice master and grunting with every move.

The music stopped. Even the Vocaloid's were stunned. Yami and Joey immediately rushed over to stop him, but they were over powered by the hero of time. Tristen, Marik, Odion, Kaito and a few other of the male guests all rushed in to help as well, but it was no use. The Pharaoh then stood next to Link, held out his hand and his third eye appeared, causing Link a sudden dizziness from the small burst of the kings power, weakening him enough for the men to finally get him off of Duke. Duke coughed many times as he sat himself up, wiping blood from his nose with the back of his hand and looking at Link with cold eyes. He never expected Link to have such strength! He could have easily killed him with one flick of his wrist.

Lucia ran over to Link who was being held against his will on the ground. "Link, calm down! Please! What's wrong with you?!" She begged, watching Link as he faught his dizziness and wanted nothing more than to rip Duke Devlin into bits. Junior also kneeled by his big brother, hoping he would stop.

Link just grunted in his struggles before laying eyes with Lucia and finally calming down. She had an extraordinary effect on him. Yami noticed Link's blood shot eyes and wondered what on earth that was...he never expected to come back from 's with so much more to worry about than his own problems. He leaned down next to Lucia and put an arm on Link's shoulder.

"Link, look at me." The Pharaoh said. Link looked away from Lucia and at the Pharaoh who's third eye chimed again and set Link into a tired state. "Why don't you go home early tonight?"

Link grunted, "Yeah..." He agreed, still his eyes were red. Yami turned to Lucia.

"Will you accompany him?" Lucia blushed. She wanted nothing more but part of her was scared for Link. What if he got sick again? She couldn't do anything to help him.

"What about you, Pharaoh? Shouldn't you come to be safe?" She asked. Yami sighed. He looked around the room, watching those tending to Duke and stopping when he shared eye contact with Jane, who stood in worry for her friend next to Mai. He really wanted to talk to her ahead of anything...but it appeared that would have to wait.

"Of course." He said, helping Link to his feet and gesturing to he and Lucia to walk ahead. He followed them behind, holding Junior's hand to make sure Link didn't hurt anyone, and just past Jane with a look of _see you later_. Yami had Junior stay behind with Yugi so that he wouldn't worry, whispered in his partner's ear, and left.

"Man, what is up with this party?" Rebecka asked again. Joey put his hands on his hips when the Pharaoh was gone with Link and Lucia.

"Alright everyone, shows over," He said, turning to Mai. "Now would be a good time to start your games. We need ice breakers."

Mai nodded and began to lead everyone back to their original seats. This gave the Vocaloids time for a break as they turned on the radio and let that play in the background at this time of the event.

"What was that all about?" Yugi asked, being one of the only ones standing at this point, leaning against Jane's chair.

"I don't know, I never saw Link lose control of himself like that before," Jane said, taking a card from Mai who was going around handing them out, "Link is usually very calm."

"Did you get a look at his eyes?" Yugi mentioned. Everyone looked at him.

"His eyes?" Jane asked. Yugi blinked.

"Don't tell me I was the only one who noticed them. They were red, like RED. Blood shot red." Yugi emphasized and Rebecka shook her head.

"I didn't see red eyes." She said. Jane shrugged.

"Neither did I. Are you sure, Yugi? How would his eyes turn red?" She asked. Yugi put elbows on the chair in frustration.

"I don't know, I'm just telling you what I saw. And I'm sure his eyes turned red." He said.

"Well what Duke did was super uncalled for. Why was he being such a jerk?" Rebecka said about her friend, watching him get treated a few tables down by Professor Hawkins.

"I haven't seen Duke behave so obnoxious like that in a while..." Jane recalled, "Not since Diana still lived with us. I wonder if the conversation triggered something in him to say certain things. But the biggest surprise of all was Link's reaction...what pushed him to that level?"

* * *

 _The House_

Yami opened the front door, allowing Link and Lucia into the house. Link wobbled to the living room, letting himself fall onto the largest couch and Lucia jogged into the kitchen.

"I'll get him some water." She said on the way. Yami's keys jingled after he shut the door and hung the jacket of his suit. He double checked his pocket to make sure he still had the potion with him.

Link whined in the next room as the Pharaoh joined him on the couch. He had a headache himself from using his third eye so much in one day, but forced one more use to get a reading on Link. The reading was...unpleasant.

"Link, why is there so much darkness in your soul?" He asked. Link shrugged, barely able to keep his eyes open from the Pharaoh's spell.

"Didn't I tell you before?" Link answered, "I've been getting headaches."

Yami focused his eyes. "I had no idea that they were becoming so dangerous."

"Maybe because you only ever think about your problems with Jane." Link answered. This hurt the Pharaoh...and it was out of character for Link to be so harsh.

Lucia returned with water and handed it to Link.

"Maybe this will help," She said. Link grabbed the glass.

"Thanks, beautiful." He said. Lucia blushed with a confused expression.

"Uh...you're welcome?" She said. Yami blinked _. Thanks, Beautiful?_

Link drank his water with an attitude and the Pharaoh realized that Link's personality was being effected by the darkness. He just hoped it wasn't permanent.

The Pharaoh couldn't give Link his undivided attention so long as the bottle lay in his pocket. Yami stood up and decided to put it away somewhere safe where it would not distract him.

"Please excuse me, Lucia. I will be back in a moment." He said, walking off with the sounds of his boots on the ground. Lucia had a mini panic attack.

"Wait, Pharaoh, I...you..." She blinked, looking at Link and shifted a few inches away from him on the couch. "Oh dear..." She said, taking a deep breath when Link looked at her with the eyes of a hunter, still red as ever. Link took her hand in his.

"What's wrong, Lucia?" He asked her, no longer looking tired. Was it because the Pharaoh's presence was gone?

"N-nothing," She stuttered, pulling her hand away, "Just worried about you."

Link chuckled. "Oh, I thought you were mad at me."

Lucia raised her eyebrow. "Why would I be mad at you?"

Link re-positioned himself on the couch to properly sit up. "Well, you know the truth now. Duke wasn't so forgiving on exposing me, was he?" He said the last part with a growl.

Lucia blinked, just now remembering that Duke implied that Link was her friend Drew in disguise.

"Oh yeah!" She said, suddenly no longer afraid. "That wasn't...true, was it?"

Link sighed, "It is. I am Drew."

Lucia shivered, remembering all the conversations she had with Drew...all the...confessions...and their kiss. "It was you...the whole time?" Part of her prayed it wasn't.

"Yup. Sorry." Link said with a half smile, finally glad she knew. Though, he wasn't himself. Link would normally never be ok with Lucia finding out this way, after all, it was the reason he lost his cool back in the wedding hall. But now that the darkness has fully taken over him, he didn't even care how she knew. He was just glad she did. '

Lucia was as red as ever, holding her cheeks in her palms. "But, but w-why did you pretend to be someone else?"

Link smiled, patting the couch beside him, gesturing for her to sit with him. "Sit down and I'll tell you."

Lucia could not believe how Link was acting. She put together all of her courage and joined him.

"Good girl," He said with a stunningly sexy smile that gave Lucia chills. What was taking Yami so long? Link put his hand on Lucia's again.

"I pretended to be Drew because I wanted to get to know you on a deeper level that I knew wouldn't happen if I were myself." He explained. Lucia avoided his gaze and instead looking down at her dress.

"What do you mean?" She stuttered, "You could still get to know me as yourself. Drew was a stranger."

"Come on, Lucia. You would never have told me half the things you told Drew..." Link said, moving closer to the girl, "After all, I was the subject of a lot of your conversations."

Lucia wanted to die. She was so embarrassed to learn that she was talking to Link all that time. And having him this close to her, feeling his hot breath creeping on her cheeks and Link behaving so...not like Link. She could definitely see how he fooled her to thinking he was someone else.

"You should be happy." Link said. Lucia's eyebrow twitched.

"Why on earth should I be happy?" She said, "I feel humiliated! Not happy."

"Because you know I know how you feel about me." He said, "And you know now that Drew's feelings are mutual."

Lucia blushed. That's right! Drew made it clear that he was interested in Lucia, that's why she pulled away. Because she loved Link. But...if they're one in the same person...Still. It was a lot to take in all at once and she didn't know what to say.

"You're not yourself." She said, changing the subject. "I'm going to go find Yami. He'll help you."

Link stopped her, pulled her hand so that she fell on top of him. Their faces just inches away.

"What's your hurry?" He asked, "Come on. Let's try a repeat of the Masquerade. This time as you and me."

Lucia didn't think she could blush any harder. "But it wouldn't be as you and me. You're not acting like the Link I'm familiar with."

Link rolled his eyes. "Of course I am. This is me. Now that the secret's out, I'm not holding back anymore."

Lucia pushed herself off of him. Was that true? Was this the real Link? No, she had a hard time accepting that. He was just sick and that was all. She wasn't going to let herself get tangled up with him while he was sick no matter how attractive he looked on the couch...

"Alright," Yami said, finally returning. He was confident that the spot he hid the bottle was safe and would not be touched. With that out of the way, he was ready to take care of his friend. "Let's take care of that darkness, shall we?"

Lucia sighed in relief when the Pharaoh returned. She only wished he was quicker about it.

When Yami sat next to Link, his exhaustion returned and Link layed back his head.

"I'm fine, Pharaoh. I just lost my self control back there." Link said. Lucia huffed. He was _not_ fine. He even said so himself before he jumped Duke. He was feeling horribly sick. What was wrong with him? It was like he was possessed.

Yami held his hand over Link's head and his third eye chimed again. Link saw double for a minute and then fainted on the couch. Yami put down his hand and turned to Lucia.

"That's strange." He said. She blinked.

"What is?"

"Normally I can banish one's darkness to the shadow realm with much ease, however...all I was able to do for Link was calm his spirit." Yami said, looking at Link again.

Lucia blinked, pretending to know how that stuff worked.

"Hm," Yami thought, "Perhaps I have over used my powers today. I will have to try this again at another time when my strength has returned."

Yami stood up and lifted Link off the couch. He was heavier than he thought, but he was sure he could manage up the stairs. As he walked up the steps, Lucia followed with he eyes locked on the sleeping Hylian. In Link's room, the king put him down on the lower bunk of his bed and began removing his suspenders so he was more comfortable. Lucia watched in the door way.

"Will he be ok?" She asked. Yami nodded and removed Link's belt.

"We will work through this, don't worry." He answered. Lucia blushed. The sight of the Pharaoh tending to Link was giving her the wrong thoughts. She turned to face the hall when she realized that those two would be an interesting _yaoi_ ship. Dear God, what was she thinking?

"Are u alright?" Yami asked when he put his hand on her shoulder and she jumped.

"Uh, yep!" She stuttered in the hall. Yami was too lazy to read what her problem was, he was too tired, luckily for her.

"Would you like to return to the wedding?" He asked her, implying he would drive her if she wanted. Snapping back into reality, Lucia blinked and realized that the wedding was still going on. Did she want to go back and have to explain to everyone how Link was? She wasn't sure she was up for that.

 _*BBNNNGGG CRSH_

Suddenly a noise was heard coming from the girls room that startled both Lucia and Yami.

"Was that-?" Lucia thought.

"The attic!?" Yami asked in shock, rushing to the girls room and looking up to the attic where Jane had reported numerous times that she heard loud noises from. This was the first time he was hearing it for himself.

 _*BBNNG bnnng_

"It really is loud!" Lucia said, listening. "No wonder Jane couldn't sleep though this."

Yami quickly jumped up into the girls crevasse, shoes and all, rushing to open the attic door. Once he got it open, he looked inside and the sounds immediately stopped. He tried to use his third eye to sense anything, but the moment he tried, he gave himself a bad headache.

"Urgh," He growled, "I can't use my ancient powers for a while."

Yami was not pleased. He needed to use them now.

"What do you think it is, Yami?" Lucia asked as the Pharaoh jumped back down from the girls little get away space.

"I can't say." He said, "I'm assuming it's something super natural, but we wont know until the disturbance returns."

Lucia sighed. "What is up with the events of today?" She said in frustration. Yami chuckled in angst as he couldn't agree more.

* * *

 _Back at the Wedding_

Mai had just walked around the hall wearing all sorta of crazy things on her wedding dress. Cooking utensils, yugioh cards, coloured ribbons, sex toys, baby bibs and hats, literally anything that comes with being a married woman. When she removed everything, she asked everyone to write down as much as they could remember seeing on her dress. The one to remember the most objects correctly, won a prize.

Rebecka whined. "We have to remember specifically which yugioh cards were on her dress?" She blinked.

"Are you done with your notes?" Marik asked, "Do you remember what was on her dress? Cause I only remember seeing a fork."

Rebecka laughed. "Yeah, I think I'm done. I can't remember anything else."

Jane looked at her sheet and saw the following;

 _A Pan  
A Fork  
A bottle of Advil  
_ _A Pacifire  
_ _Yugioh Cards_

Duke smirked. "You forgot Vibrator."

"Very funny," Jane said, ignoring him. Duke laughed.

"I'm not joking. Marik said she saw one." He said seriously. Marik sweat-dropped.

"Hey." He said, "What are you implying?"

Later

"Thank you for coming," Mai said, hugging her friends and saying their final good byes. Yugi followed her and Joey around, waiting until they were reading to send everyone back home with the millennium puzzle. Joey was already blushing like crazy, looking forward to his honey moon. Tristen elbowed him in the side playing with him and the Vocaloid's have already packed all their things into their truck.

The group of friends as they followed Jane into the car.

"Shouldn't we wait for Yugi?" Rebecka asked. Jane shook her head as she picked up a sleepy Junior.

"He's going back to Domino City first and he'll meet us at the house later." She explained. Jane was doing all she could to remain positive and forget that she was going home to a depressed Pharaoh.

"Well...what a day, huh?" Rebecka commented. What a day indeed.

* * *

 _The House_

It was already late evening. The group had already changed into their pajamas.

Junior was sleeping with Link in their room, Lucia was resting in her room and... the Pharaoh had followed Jane into the kitchen when he spotted her in the hall.

"Jane?" He called her, surprising her in the kitchen. She thought for sure he would be in his room by now and she cursed her impatient crave for sugar.

"Hey, Yami." She said, faking a smile. Yami noticed she had a wrapper in her hand and joined her at picking a piece of chocolate from the jar of sweets and began unwrapping it. He put the piece of dark chocolate into his mouth and observed her watching him. She never did well alone with the Pharaoh, especially in settings of darkness. She had a history of misbehaving around him.

"Good night!" She said bravely, forcing herself to toss the wrapper and beginning her way out. Though he knew it was the best thing for her to do, he stopped her anyway.

"Wait." He said, grabbing her arm. Jane shut her eyes.

"Please, don't." She said without turning around. The desperation of escape in her voice made the Pharaoh cringe. But, knowing that it could be over all just by drinking that potion, gave him some kind of comfort...and made it easier for him to speak to her.

"I...just wanted to talk to you about today." The Pharaoh said. Jane took a breath of strength and turned around.

"Ok. Talk." She said. Yami sighed and let go of her arm.

"I know my...performance caught you by surprise and I meant to apologize for that." Yami explained, "It was uncalled for. I should not have gone up there."

Jane shuttered.

"You're...apologizing for your song?" She asked, "Why?"

"Well because," Yami thought that _why_ was obvious, "I'm sure it must have made you uncomfortable."

Yami recalled seeing her crying outside before he left to see . Should he tell her what he saw?

"Oh." Jane shook her head, "No I wasn't uncomfortable. It was a beautiful song."

She was acting stronger than she was. Yami raised a brow.

"It didn't...bother you?" He asked. Jane shook her head again.

"No, no. Not the song, I just," Jane's voice cracked, "It just-"

Jane couldn't hold back her eyes from watering, "It just made me realize how much I was hurting you and how selfish I was being during all of this...oh great."

Jane whipped her tears, angry at herself for cracking in front of him like this. Yami's eyes widened. She was crying for him?

"I don't understand, why shed tears for me?" Yami clenched his fist in anger, "That doesn't make sense!"

Jane's crying was scared away when Yami raised his voice louder than a whisper. "Of course it makes sense," She raised her voice back, "It's how I feel, ok!"

"How can you be crying for me when you have the power to end my suffering in a fraction of a second!?" He said with a tone, "What's the point?"

"I can end your suffering?" Jane repeated as she thought about it. Of course he means ending her relationship with Yuu and being with him. It's too bad she's already decided not to be with either of them.

"Here I was beginning to believe you were simply feeling embarrassed. But you're mourning for me? How dare logic is flawed." Yami said. Jane put her face in her hands for a second and released her expression of frustration.

"Is this what you do, Yami? Ignore me for weeks, break out into song and then yell at me?" Jane said, "I know I'm awful! I know already! I don't deserve you or Yuu, I'm working on it! But reminding me of your pain is making things harder for me! Can't you just pick one? Be my friend or leave me alone."

Yami's eye's widened. "What do you mean. What are you working on?"

Jane huffed when she realized what she said. "Nothing!" She said, then lowering her voice as she turned around, "nothing."

"No, wait-" Yami said, walking after her into the living room and blocking her path. "Jane, please. Tell me what's on your mind."

What's on Jane's mind? All she wanted to do was go back in time and not fuck up.

"I want to be alone." She said, "Completely alone. Apart from you and Yuu."

Yami was scared. He didn't want to think he had a chance again, not to be disappointed and broken all over again. But what else could she mean by that? Was she seriously going to break up with Yuu? For real this time? If she was, it didn't look like she was doing it for him. The Pharaoh could feel his heavy chest rising up and down as he looked at the woman in front of him who was upset. Sad but upset. Not at him, but at herself. She was tired.

"What will you do then?" He asked. Jane sighed and looked at him in the eyes.

"I'll move." She said, "Go back to my parents place for a while."

Yami's eyes widened and his heart ache returned. ".You...want to leave me?"

"Of course I don't want to leave you!" She said loudly again, "But does it look like I have a choice? We're hurting ourselves just by being around each other."

Jane forced herself past the Pharaoh to continue her way to the stair case, "And after today, the sooner the better! I'm not good for your health, Yami. I have to-"

Yami stopped her by grabbing her hand. "You wont be, not anymore. I have a solution just please-"

Yami stopped himself before he told her about his deal with . "You can't leave, Jane."

"Why not?" She asked. Yami looked into her eyes, ignoring the pain.

"Because the only thing worse than not having you, is not being with you." He said. "I need you to be near me at the very least."

Jane's eye teared up again.

"And that, right there, is exactly why I have to leave." She said softly. Jane wasn't having it anymore. She turned around and walked up the stairs, leaving Yami alone and week, eyes wider and more in shock than ever before.

The king fell to his knees on the bottom of the stair case, letting himself cry again. That was it, he couldn't survive if she didn't live here anymore. Now was the time to take that potion.

Yami jogged up the stairs and rushed into his room. Just as he was about to go into his hiding place he stopped.

NO. Not yet. When she leaves and he has absolutely no alternative, he will drink it. But until she gets on that plane, he wasn't giving up. He was going to try one more time. One last time before giving up on her. But what could he do? He's already tried everything. Everything. The Pharaoh knelt by his bed in deep thought. What could he possibly do to convince her to be with him?

* * *

 **A/N: That ending though... so much feels it gets me every time. Talk about a twist in plot huh? and Dark Link? Things are getting intense. Will Yami have any chance of being with Jane? And will Lucia forgive Link for lieing about Drew's identity? And what's up with that attic of theirs!?**


	16. Vol 2 Ch 9: A Memory

**_Warning: Lemon in Chapter._**

 **A/N: It had to be perfect. I mean... Yami and Jane both suffered and also had so much sexual tension between them since the first fkn book for FORwarD. Like this was a LONG time coming, so it had to be reeeallyyy good. I chose wording that was romantic and inferred because, i wanted it to be poetic and STRONG , to emphasize the extreme emotional strain on them. When ur reading, just remember alll the times Yami and Jane interacted and just know that this scene is meant to be completely beautiful sooo lets save the jokes for later. I know u wanna fkn tease me like shit, and I wanna hear it all, but first lets just take a moment to appreciate what happens..**

* * *

 _Last Time on Savannah Gerogia..._

 _It was a really hot day at the house, tension was everywhere. Lucia was getting glued to Link's tights and Mai was hearing noises from the attic. It was a hectic time. In addition to that, Joey was able to share his creativity with Lucia, who is trying to take up a career in writing. Once the wedding began, things got even worse. Link got his headaches returning and Yami was singing on stage about Jane. The whole thing got pretty intense that Yami ran off to visit the Dark One, making a dangerous deal with him in exchange for a potion to fall out of love with Jane, which he has yet to drink. While all this went down, Link brutally attacked Duke who betrayed his trust and was insulting Diana and Lucia and exposed Link's secret about his Drew identity, causing a dark entity to be born within him and causing a major shift in his personality. As Yami attempted to help out, he and Lucia finally heard the attic noises for themselves. Aside from the drama though, Mai and Joey are married now and everything ended on a sad note when Jane decided to leave Savannah Georgia to get away from the Pharaoh who appears to be suffering too much in her presence. This was not what he wanted, and now the Pharaoh has committed to finding an alternate solution to convince her to stay with him._

 **Savannah Georgia ~**  
Volume 2 – Chapter 9

" _A Memory_ _._ " _  
One Day Later  
Evening  
The house  
Narrator's_ _P.O.V_

It was an interesting couple of hours in the house. Link was going under a heavy fever due to his darkened state which, for some reason, no one can figure out why. The Pharaoh's powers have not been able to help and he's come to the conclusion that it's likely because he's not feeling well himself and it may be having an effect, but he can't be sure. Lucia has been helping Link out who's been home alone sick for the most part while going to school. Yami is working at the museum, Yugi is in Domino City with his friends and Jane has been with Mai, avoiding the house all together. While doing so, she's been making some calls and preparing to move back in with her parents.

Since her conversation with Yami after the wedding the night before, she's thought of nothing else. Everyone has tried to convince her other wise, but she's stubborn. Not even the Pharaoh who, after his shift, immediately came home looking to talk her out of it. But each time he's tried to find her, she hasn't been around or wont answer his phone calls. Yami was being put aside this time and it was driving him crazy. He worried that he wouldn't be able to even have a conversation with her before she leaves and wont ever see her again once she does. He knew that his suffering would be over just from drinking the potion that was given to him by Rumpelstiltskin, but if he did that, he wouldn't have the interest or strength to make her stay. He still wanted her to stay. After two days of silence, Yami returned to an empty house once again. His first move was to check the girls room, but it was only Lucia.

"Hello, Lucia." He said. It was an empty greeting. He didn't have to say what he wanted, Lucia knew he was looking for Jane.

"She's with Mai." She answered. Again? Yami clenched the door handle in anger. Should he just show up at the Vocaloid's hotel and demand to see her? He was scared to risk something like that. Any time he acted on how he felt, it appeared to worsen things.

"What can I do?" Yami asked. Lucia was surprised to hear the Pharaoh ask for her opinion. He was desperate. What could he do to make it better? To make her want to talk things out with him and find a solution that would involve her staying?

"Um," Lucia sighed, wishing she had a clue. "I don't know, she wont listen to any of us and...I don't think you have the best chance to be the one to change her mind."

In a way, Lucia was happy that the drama with Jane has taken everyone's attention because she hasn't yet taken it in that Drew and Link are one in the same...and she was buying as much time as possible to come up with what to say now that Link was back to being himself.

The Pharaoh sighed and noticed Lucia was rolling up a pink cloth.

"What are you doing?" He asked her.

"Just preparing a wet towel for Link." Lucia said, walking to her washroom and rinsing the fabric. Yami rubbed his forhead when he remembered that Link was sick and he hasn't been able to help him at all. This had to be the worse week ever.

"Thank you for taking care of him in my place." The Pharaoh said to Lucia as she immersed from the pink double bathroom. Lucia smiled.

"It's not in your place, I'll always take care of my friends." She said, walking out of the room. She can't even tell weather Link remembers being... _different_ after the wedding during their conversation. Either way, she's too frightened to ask.

The Pharaoh casually followed the girl into the Hylian's room.

In Link and Junior's room, Junior was preparing to go to bed and Link lay on the bottom bunk, boiling from his fever and topless, talking his little brother through brushing his teeth. Lucia entered the room first and the Pharaoh leaned against the door frame to observe.

"Thanks, Lucia." Link said with his eye closed as she pressed the fresh towel on his hot skin. As a Hylian, fever's are the absolute worst sickness to get. It hits them harder than a normal human being.

Lucia was so distracted with her thoughts that tending to Link this way did not cause her to bat an eye.

"How are you feeling, Link?" The king asked. Link sighed.

"Been better." He half joked. Yami's third eye chimed as he walked closer to his sleepy friend.

"The darkness has diminished since I last observed." He said, "I apologize for not noticing it earlier on."

Link coughed, "No, I'm sorry I said what I said. It wasn't cool for me to do."

"But you are absolutely right," Yami said, letting them see through his expression. "I havn't been paying as much notice to the rest of you as I should. I have been selfish."

"Well..." Link answered with his eyes closed, "Now is the best time for that. If we don't do something, Jane's going to leave us and...I don't know if I can deal with another friend gone."

Lucia frowned. "It's not the same, Jane will visit I'm sure."

"Maybe not." The Pharaoh said. Lucia flipped the wet cloth.

"Yami...why is she even leaving? I haven't been able to ask her myself since that night. She's been with Mai and her team all the time and wont reply to my texts." Lucia explained.

"..." Yami delayed his response, "She believes that she's hurting me by being around and that the best thing for us is to be apart."

Lucia growled and got the attention of both men.

"I'm sorry, forgive me for sounding insensitive but I am so on your side, Yami." She said in frustration. "I totally think Jane should have just broken up with Yuu or just never gotten your hopes up in the first place."

Yami blinked and Link chuckled.

"Same here." Link said in a weak voice.

"I don't expect for anyone to take sides..." Yami said, appreciating the support any way.

The Pharaoh looked at Link, recalling their old conversations about their troubles with Jane and Diana way back in the day. That is what he needed.

"Lucia, do you mind allowing me to speak to Link in private?"

Lucia blinked. "Sure." She said, taking the cloth with her to rinse it out again. Link was surprised at this as well when the Pharaoh walked near the bed and let himself sit next to him. Yami looked around to find Junior playing with his action figures in the sink and concluded that it was safe to talk.

"How are you Link?" Yami asked. Link blinked.

"Fine?" He said.

"No, I am asking you how you are doing." Yami repeated, "I haven't asked how you were getting by since Diana left our old place in quite a while."

"Oh that." Link said, sighing. "Is this about what I said again, Pharaoh? Look, I told you I-"

"It's not about that, Link." Yami clarified. "I am genuinely concerned. You reacted aggressively after we learned about Drew. That in addition to Diana being absent at the wedding...surely you were troubled."

Link wiped his chest that was accumulating sweat from his fever and did his best to sit up. "Grunt*...I think I'm beginning to get over her leaving us. Lucia has been helping me a lot..." He paused, "I can't wrap my mind why Duke would just expose me like that. Did you know the whole time..?"

Yami shook his head. "I had my suspicions however... I regret to say that I did not pay enough attention."

The men shared a sad gaze.

"Don't worry, Pharaoh. I just...the Drew thing...I just needed to figure some stuff out," Link pursed a lip, "And I did."

"I'm happy to hear that," Yami said while looking at the ground. Link wasn't able to see past his poker face but...he didn't need to to know what the Pharaoh was feeling. The elf put a strong hand on the Pharaoh's shoulder.

"Come on, Pharaoh. You don't care about what happened with Dee." He said, "And I know you really don't care about my little experiment...You can talk to me about anything you want. Isn't that why you asked Lucia to step out?"

The Pharaoh's face was shadowed as his shoulders weakened. He cleared his throat to collect himself.

"I...don't know what to do." He said. Yami wanted nothing more than to drink the potion once and for all, but part of him was still holding on to the hope that he could be with her. "I've chased her, pushed her away, tried to level with her but...all seems hopeless."

Link's eyebrows arched in frustration and then he sighed.

"Ok, let me make sure I'm all caught up here." Link said, "You and Jane were technically suppose to come back from her birthday together, is that right? She was suppose to call things off with her boyfriend and that's why she took you with her."

"Not exactly..." Yami corrected, "I invited myself along to put the pressure on her. I don't believe she would have ever considered calling it off if I hadn't insisted for her to."

"But she was going to do it, right?" Link asked. Yami nodded.

"I am certain she was. Something must have changed her mind along the way." He said.

"What is with this _Yuu_ guy, anyway?" Link grunted. "Why does Jane insist on keeping him around, did she ever say?"

"From what I can recall...she told me that she fears hurting him because he treated her well for the years they've been involved. Being with me made her feel guilty." Yami explained. Link rubbed his forehead.

"Yeah, then why did she keep him a secret for so long?" Link said. Yami looked back at Junior.

"I'm afraid I may have misunderstood however...last time we spoke, she may have implied that she doesn't intend to stay with him much longer. She believes she is undeserving of his loyalty."

"Then why is she leaving?" Link asked. Yami sighed.

"Your understanding of this is as good as mine, Link." He said, "From what I could conclude, she wants to leave to help me but..." Yami clenched his fist, "I know for certain when she gets there, it will be Yuu she will turn to." "She's gotta love him, that's the only reason she's putting you through hell." Link said. Yami did not respond. He hated hearing that. "But she loves you too, right?"

Yami gave a weak nod. "She does."

"Well, who does she love more?" Link asked, "She's turning back and forth confused and then ultimately chooses to leave you. Why is that? What does he have that a Pharaoh doesn't?"

"History." Yami said, "They have history. Yuu is a permanent reminder of who she was before meeting us. She was still a student, living near her family...they've been together for years and even though it's become long distance, she holds onto the memories of experiencing relationships first hand as a young woman."

"That's not reason enough," Link said, "You're way more exciting than a regular guy. You have powers, you're rich, I mean, aren't you what girls want? If you can't hold onto Jane, there's no hope for the rest of us."

Yami held his head in his hands. "I suppose part of the reason could be her self esteem. Fear perhaps? Yuu may be the only normal man left in her life."

"You're normal." Link said, "The moment we decided to live in this world, we've become normal. Everyone has history, it can be let go of. Is it because she's been with him so long?"

Yami tensed up. "Yes. They have a very strong bond. Even without seeing each other for months, Jane thinks of him every day when she's near me. The guilt reminds her of him."

"That's not a strong bond." Link said. Yami blinked. "Come on, Pharaoh. If she had such a strong bond with Yuu, why was it so easy for her to get on a plane and move miles away? Would you have been able to be apart from her the way they are apart from each other? Look at you. A few days after she says she's leaving and you're a complete mess."

Yami remained silent taking this in. Link grunted.

"Something is eating at Jane, but I don't think the problem is where you think it is. I think she just needs a hard reminder why she loves you. Why she always loved you before you even came into her life." Link explained. "That's what she said, isn't it?"

"What can I do?" Yami asked, "If I'm too persistent, she'll only leave sooner. After all, it was my actions that caused her to make the decision to leave in the first place."

"She's still with Yuu because of memories. You two have memories. Remind her of them and make new ones. Give her a memory that's so good, she couldn't forget you no matter how hard she tried." Link thought of.

Yami's eye widened. Was he going about it all the wrong ways? Should he try to be with her the way he did before he ever knew about Yuu? Was it too late for that?

"Make memories..." Yami said to himself. Link layed back down.

"Yeah. That's got to be the trick behind her and Yuu's relationship. They must have some unforgettable moments for her to still want him even after knowing you." Link said. That's when it came to Yami.

"Of course. They do," The Pharaoh said, "Yuu is the first and only man that Jane has ever slept with."

It pained him to say that out loud. Since Yami learned of this, he had nothing but heart ache.

Link blushed. "That's true...I guess that's a pretty tough memory to beat."

"I can't possibly surpass it. That is the ultimate act of passion." The Pharaoh stood up to release stress and pased the room. "The only way to compete is if I-"

Link cleared his throat. "Is if you...what?"

Link knew what the Pharaoh was trying to say. It was obvious. Yami stopped paseing the room and froze in place, pulling at his tie. Just the thought of it made him feel...after all, sharing a moment like that with Jane would be a dream. But, if he ever did get to that point, he imagined it to be the image of perfection...not an act of persuasion. And if he did get to that, he surley wanted to be married to her first. But...that was impossible now, wasn't it? He could barely get Jane to eat lunch with him, let alone marry him and...let alone be touched by him.

"It wont work." Yami said, "Even if I put all of my morals aside, I would never succeed in convincing her to do such a thing...as I wouldn't expect her to be so easily seduced."

"I think it will work." Link encouraged, "I know it goes against your ideals, but I think if you play your cards right, she will."

"What makes you so certain, Link?" Yami asked, shaking. He was shaking over the fact he was even considering!

"Because you love each other, and that's what two people who are in love do," Link blushed as he spoke, trying to ignore Lucia's image in his mind, "I'm sure she doesn't want to leave, Pharaoh. She's just as weak for you as you are for her. Get her alone and...you know."

Even the Pharaoh couldn't hide the light red plaster on his face from the thought as he looked out the window of Link's bedroom. Was he that desperate? One of his long term goals was to happily get married and experience that on his honey moon...you know, have children and live happily ever after. Yami had very strict thoughts about virtue and...he wished he could be her first if he could go back. And to do this while her heart is still partially some where else...it was an even greater sin. Did he want to throw away everything he believed in if it meant another shot at winning her heart?

"Without a second thought," Yami whispered.

"What?" Link asked. Yami cleared his throat and quickly sat next to Link again.

"Link, I'm going to need your help."

* * *

Later

 _Mai's Vocaloid team's hotel_

"You want me to what?" Mai repeated on the phone as she organized her notes for work, preparing everything she needed before she and Joey go to their honeymoon.

"Bring Jane to the house tomorrow night." Link said. Mai turned her head to look at Jane playing on her 3ds on the couch, not paying attention to the phone call.

"Ok, easier said then done." She said, "I've already tried to convince her to stay. Believe me, I want her to stay."

"You have to, Mai." Link insisted, "We're all trying to get her in the house with the Pharaoh alone so they can talk. I think he can convince her to stay."

"Are you nuts?" Mai blinked in surprise, "He can't convince her. He's the reason she's leaving!"

"Mai, listen." Link said in a condescending and frustrated grunt, "Having them together is the only way."

Mai pouted, "I can have her there tomorrow night if that's what you want."

Link sighed, "Thank you..."

Mai hung up and looked at Jane play away on her game. She put down her notes and her phone and joined Jane on the couch. Jane was very stubborn once she's made a decision, that's how she's always been. Even though Link has the best intentions in mind, there is no way it will work unless Jane chooses to go talk to the Pharaoh tomorrow night herself rather than being tricked into it.

"So," Mai took a deep breath, "When are you going to pack for your trip back?"

And so, the best way was to talk to her about it.

"I don't know, probably the next time Yami has a long shift so I'm in and out." Jane answered without removing her eyes off the screen. Mai slowly grabbed the toy, closed it and put it aside.

"Is that wise, hun?" She said. Jane blinked.

"Are you going to try to convince me to stay again, Mai?" Jane's eyebrows dropped, "I already told you, I wont."

"I know, even though I have been such a good friend to you and don't deserve any of this, you're going to leave anyway." Mai half joked, "You're going. I accepted that."

"Good." Jane said, grabbing her game again. And again, Mai took it away from her.

"But," She said, "I don't think you should leave on bad terms with the Pharaoh."

Jane huffed. "What are you saying?"

"You should talk to him," Mai said in a sweet tone, "Poor guy. I mean, don't you think it's the least you can do after what you did?"

Jane pouted. "What I did?"

"I'm just quoting you, Jane. You told me you got his hopes up, with held the truth about Yuu from him to do that and then completely crushed him." Mai reminded, "I think that, if you're going to completely leave him, the least you can offer him is a proper goodbye, you know? So both of you can move on and have the last memory together be a happy one."

Jane crossed her arms. Mai was right, and she hated that. Saying goodbye to Yami would mean having to say no to him again when he begs her to stay. It would definitely be a very hard conversation but it would be the right thing to do. Besides, if Jane leaves without a word, she would surely regret it in the future and look back at herself in disgust that she couldn't even say goodbye to her fictional husband. Jane sighed.

"Ok. I'll pack tomorrow and I'll talk to him." She said. "But all I'm going to do is thank him for everything and tell him there are no hard feelings. That's it, then I'm gone!"

Mai rolled her eyes.

"Duh." She said.

* * *

The Next Day  
5 pm

"It's here some where." Lucia said, looking for notes in her room. "Here it is!"

She jogged down stairs, making sure not to trip over her feet on the way and stopped when she nearly bumped into the King.

"Are you heading out?" Yami asked. Lucia nodded, adjusting her jacket.

"Yeah, I got to get these to my prof. We're under a strict deadline, so I'll see you later." As Lucia opened the door to leave, Yami stopped her.

"Uh, Lucia! Hang on a moment," He said. Lucia turned around. "Will you be stopping by later this evening?"

Lucia blinked. "No. Didn't you hear me? I gotta go!"

And as Lucia jogged down the stone path Yami sighed. That takes care of her, then. Link was still sick but he was able to convince Ash to allow him and Junior to hang around at his place. Jane was with Mai...Yami closed the door when he was finally alone.

Was he really doing this right now?

The Pharaoh walked into his room to make sure it was warm enough for her. He tidied up his room and perfected anything that wasn't perfect. He leaned against his vanity when he noticed his breathing picking up as the imagery began to creep into his mind.

"Yugi..." He said to himself, "I don't know if I can go through with this."

Yugi was still in the other realm and his presence would be a great help to the Pharaoh at a time like this. He walked back and forth, changing his mind about doing this and then changing it back. He took a shower, walked around and then showered again. He put on tracks and then changed into his leather. Then changed again and back to the leather. He swam through TV channels, went through the fridge to eat nothing and then went over his deck over fifteen times. He was completely stressed out. He had no idea how he was even going to initiate something this serious when he couldn't even get close enough to embrace her. He came close to drinking the potion a few times while waiting in the house alone and then checked the time. There were still two hours left before Mai said she would return and the time was going by too quickly for the Pharaoh.

He almost called Yugi several times, desperately needing his other half to calm him down. But talking to Yugi was not an option this time. Yugi was the light, the good. Talking to him would change his mind.

And he didn't want to change it.

In time, Yami was finally able to calm himself down when he warmed up a black tea and put on his favourite movie to distract himself. There was plenty of time to finish the film and think about how he would approach her with the plan in mind. Even when the previews of the DVD played, he still could not clear his mind or pay attention. He stirred his tea, tossed the spoon in the sink and nervously walked to the couch as the previews ended. The moment he sat down though, he heard someone unlocking the front door. He expected it be Lucia, of course, as it was much too early. She may have forgotten something. The King put a leg over the other and watched the door open. It was not Lucia.

It was Jane.

His eyes widened. She's early! He was not prepared at all. What should he say? She's going to be very upset when she realizes he's in the house and was tricked. But by the Pharaoh's surprise, she smiled at him and shut the door behind her, wearing a blue Lolita dress and her back pack with her.

"Hey, Yami." She said. The Pharaoh looked at the TV, took a sip of his tea to conjure the shock and took a deep breath before putting down the mug, standing up and coming to.

"Jane," He said, quickly walking to her side and grabbing her back pack, "Let me help you."

Jane didn't protest. She let him. "Thank you."

Yami put the bag aside without taking his eyes off her. He was worried this may be their last encounter ever, and he didn't want to waste a second looking anywhere else. Stunning she was with the glow of the television against her skin in the dark.

"Are you alright?" He asked her when she just stood there. She nodded.

"Yeah I just wanted to come to my room and..." She paused, "...start collecting my things."

Yami was expecting something like that so he was not very reactive.

"I see," He said, "Would you like some help?"

She nodded. "Sure."

She gestured for her bag but Yami stopped her.

"Please," He said, holding it for her. Jane smiled in thanks and made her way up the stairs, thinking that she could say her goodbyes to Yami then. Yami took deep, slow, self controlled breathes as he watched her take each step, admiring her as she made her way. He mentally calmed himself, one wouldn't be able to notice how nervous he was from the outside. The Pharaoh was always good at hiding his emotions.

This was his last shot at winning her over. It was all or nothing. Yami looked up at the coat hanger and noticed one of Jane's white scarves hanging. It gave him an intriguing idea. He grabbed the scarf and followed her.

It was darker on the top floor, as it was nearing 6 o'clock and no one was in the house. Yami watched Jane in her room from the door frame but it didn't look like she was planning to do anything. She looked around her room, hesitantly. She didn't want to start packing. She didn't even want to leave.

Yami put down her bag near her door without entering the room and put his hands in his pockets, just observing her. Everything about her. She was beautiful. Her long hair waved down her back, her dress shaped her curved hips and her perfect bare legs holding up the rest of her fragile body...the Pharaoh felt like she was trying to torture him on purpose by dressing this way. Being able to take her tonight would be so hard but also so easy for him. He only hoped she would not deny him.

"So..." She finally broke the silence, "Where is everyone?"

Jane wasn't expecting to come to an empty house and it was making her a bit nervous.

"I don't know," He lied in a half whisper, "They're going about their lives, I suppose."

Jane was stalling for something, but she didn't know what it was. Yami could tell that she was putting something off, his third eye confirmed it. He wondered if she came here for something else than just to get her things. He wanted to ask, but he was scared to touch any sort of topic. Instead he remained silent and let her take the lead for now.

Jane was glad it was dark, because other wise, Yami would notice her blushing for sure. He looked so slick leaning against her door frame with his eye glowing in the dark that she couldn't help herself. She looked around, pretending to be occupied and then realized she had to talk to him eventually and she couldn't escape it. She knew he would wait by that door for an eternity.

"Yami, before I go through with this, I wanted to tell you that-" Jane paused when he let himself in the room. Her heart pounding. "...that.."

Yami stopped in front of her, trying to be as patient as he could. The more he got used to the idea of having her tonight, the harder it was to turn away from it anymore. He didn't just want her, he needed her.

"Yes?" He waited. Jane blinked.

"I...didn't want to leave any bad blood." She said, playing with her hands, "I want us to part on good terms, you know?"

"Of course," Yami said, stepping to the side, "I couldn't agree more. I..."

Yami thought of the perfect bait, "...I have something for you to take with you."

Jane jerked her head back in surprise. He was taking it all extremely well. Where was the Yami that was begging her not to leave? Part of her didn't like it...she wanted him to fight for her to stay.

"You...got me a parting gift?" She blinked. Yami closed his eyes.

"No it's...not a parting gift." He said. "It's...a memory."

Jane raised her eyebrow. "A memory...like...a photograph?"

Yami chuckled. He was thanking the Gods that she came into the home in such a calm mood and willing to talk to him. It was an absolute miracle. He was so worried and expecting her to come in surprised that he would even be around, push him away and ignore anything he had to say. It appeared things were meant to be this way...that he was meant to go through with this after all...and he was going to go through with this...

He was.

"Not exactly." He said, "Why don't you meet me in my room and I'll explain."

His room? Jane blinked and immediately got the wrong thoughts but, that was predictable of a fan girl. She only had her phone in her hands when she wobbled passed him out of the room. He wasn't following her though. She couldn't imagine why, but she was too focused on thinking about how she will have the courage to leave. She didn't want to.

Upon entering Yami's room, she squinted into the darkness that was even dimmer than the rest of the house. She walked to the bed side table looking for a lamp, using her phone as her only light source when she noticed a note book open on the table's surface. Her curiosity quickly took over and she had to peak at what was inside. It was blank. Just a simple text in the bottom in Yami's hand writing: Come What May.

Yami finally followed her into the room with only her scarf in his hand. She didn't even notice him or the fact that he shut the door behind him. She was too busy using her phone to look into the pages. He walked slowly toward her, his heart beating faster then ever with every step, thinking about all the possible outcomes of the night as he got closer to her. When he was right behind her, just centimeters apart, he put his arm around her right side to grab the notebook where she held it. She gasped from the surprise.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Jane immediately apologized for snooping but Yami did not respond. Instead he guided her hand to put the book back down as well as her phone, and when she did, he did not release his grip on her hand while keeping his face behind her.

"I don't want you to go..." He said. Jane squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists on his table, trying to ignore his touch. Her sub conscious mind told her to be tough and tell him it was too bad but...she didn't have the heart. She let out the truth.

"...I don't either." She whispered, looking at the wall. Yami tightened his grip on her right hand.

"You don't have to leave..." Yami said, "We can get through this."

"I don't know, I-" Jane said, struggling to keep her eyes straight to avoid temptation, "-I think it's best."

The Pharaoh rubbed her hand with his, "If you leave...I'll follow you."

Jane sighed as though she expected an answer like that. If Yami wants something, he will fight for it till he dies...it comes with being a spoiled king.

"But...then..." Jane started, "...what's the memory for?"

Jane said this with confusion in her voice, curious about what he meant by it. Yami let out a quiet breath and moved his hand so that it was completely wrapped around hers.

"I'll be happy to show you if you let me." He said, wondering how far he can go before she figures it out herself and ultimately turns him down.

Those words made Jane suspicious already, but she couldn't help but think he was referring to the note book. With that strong reference written on the page and the song that he sang at Joey's wedding...maybe it was a documented memory of sorts...something written.

"Sure," She said quietly, "You can show me."

"...will you hold still for a moment?" He asked.

"You want me to...stand still?" Jane repeated without turning around. What did he want to show her that involved keeping her still? Yami let go of her hand and prepared the scarf behind her.

"Will you remain still until I say otherwise?" He paused, "No matter what occurs?"

Jane was afraid to agree to that. Of course if she really had to, she would move, even if she agreed so she nodded silently. Even so...she trusted Yami. She didn't believe for a minute that he would hurt her.

Yami put his arms around Jane with the scarf in front of her. He breathed quietly to avoid frightening her and slowly brought the scarf to her eyes and gently wrapped it around her head, over her hair and tied a knot, maintaining his slow movements as slow as possible as he blinded her. At least if she would not be able to see what he was planning to do, he may have a chance to forgive himself for it. If she didn't witness the sin...maybe it could be like it never happened. Jane's heart was racing as she was extremely confused.

"Y-Yami..?" She said, waiting for him to give her the ok to move again. He moved his hands from the scarf to her shoulders, barely touching her down the side of her arms.

"Thank you for being true to your word," He said quietly, "You're welcome to move again."

Yami expected Jane to remove the scarf, but she surprised him when she left it in place. She was curious why he put it on in the first place so she, instead, turned around to face him.

She placed one hand on the scarf, feeling the material and recognizing it as hers.

"Um," She pondered, "How can you show me anything if I can't see?"

The Pharaoh lifted her chin so that her face was directed to his. "When one of your senses are muted, the rest of them become sensitized." He explained, "You aren't meant to see, you are meant to feel."

Jane blushed right away when she heard that. A memory that involves what she feels? She was beginning to piece together Yami's riddle, but she gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"What am I feeling?" She whispered, terrified now. Without her sight, she was vulnerable.

"...You tell me." He said. Jane's breathing felt louder than usual in the quiet.

"Uh..." Jane thought, paying attention to what she was feeling. What she was feeling was Yami's strong hand lightly touch her face...his touch becoming a cradle on her right cheek. "I'm feeling..."

It was pitch black for her, but the moment she felt his breath on her lips, she stuttered.

"Scared...!" She let out quickly, slightly louder than the tiny volume she'd been using up until now. The answer stopped Yami, but he did not move from his position. He only pulled his head back enough to see the entirety of her face.

"..you're scared?" He asked her. "...of what?" He expected her to stop him some time, but he was surprised she used fear to explain her current emotion. He was expecting her to reveal that she may be angry, sad, shy, nervous, tired, or anything that would make sense. He was not expecting that she would be scared.

Jane swallowed hard, wondering what she should do.

"I'm...scared of hurting you even more." She said, "I'm scared you'll do something you'll regret."

Was she catching on? Yami remained nonchalant.

"I could never regret being with you." He said with a slight growl. "When will you finally come to terms with that?"

Jane shivered, "You regretted it before. You regretted it...on my birthday."

Yami had amazing self control, but he wanted nothing more than to kiss her right then and there. He didn't care what she had to say about it. Still, he remained the gentle man that he was.

"No, I did not." He said, "Not for a moment."

Jane faced her head downward wondering why. Yami positioned her face back where it was.

"Do you?" He asked. Did she? Jane didn't regret her moments with Yami, never. She only regretted the lies.

"No but..." Jane tried to organize her thoughts and failed. "I don't know."

Yami noticed she didn't even understand her own actions. She was confused.

"Can you do something for me?" He asked. Jane's heart raced.

"...what?" She said quietly.

"I want you to focus." He said, "Focus on me. Don't think about your friends, don't think about the time or what you have planned for your day tomorrow. Just focus on this very moment in time and I promise...it will clear your mind."

Jane blushed. What an interesting request. Focusing on only Yami has been something she has never been able to do, in fact, she went out of her way to avoid that since the first day she met him. Since knowing the Pharaoh she could never look at him for too long without getting lost in her fan girl thoughts, she couldn't talk to him without reminding herself not to get too attached...even when she kissed him, she could never truley pay attention to what he felt like because of the guilt she felt about Yuu in the back of her mind. Even when she let herself get lost in him now and then for a minute...it was only a minute. She was always out of focus, always thinking of something else, distracting herself when she was with Yami. Being mindful of him was a difficult task.

"Focus?" She repeated, trying to do so. "That's...tough."

Yami took her left hand with his and put it on his chest.

"Start with this," He said, referring to his heart beat, "A rhythm can aid your concentration."

Jane wanted to focus because she was curious to know what a real moment with the Pharaoh would be like, even if it was just feeling his breathing. She wanted to know that much if she was going to leave him forever. She wondered what it would be like to, for once, give Yami her full, undivided attention.

At least once.

She matched her breathing with his and concentrated on the leather material beneath her palm. It made her want to lay back in bliss...she never realized it was as tight on his built torso as it looked. It was incredibly arousing. Noticing her palm on his chest, she had found that he was re-positioning himself and soon enough, she felt his nose contact hers and his warm breath again on her lips again. Yami felt her body tense up at his closeness and saw that it caused her mind to wander and halt the process.

"Focus..." He said by her lips and she calmed herself. If he was going to kiss her, it would be hard not to think of Yuu in the moment. But, for some reason, not having sight made it easier to pretend like nothing was going on...like this was all just a dream.  
She was so invested in the quiet, their breathing, and Yami's erotic deep voice urging her to keep her focus.

"Ok..." She said, barely audible. The Pharaoh let their bodies touch, keeping one hand on her face and wrapping the other around her lower back, almost to plant her in place so she couldn't get away from him. Her hand was still on his chest and her face stayed in place without the need of his cupped hand to hold it there. Yami chimed his third eye to confirm how she was feeling and, sure enough, she was completely captivated by him and thinking of nothing else. So the Pharaoh took the chance. Their lips collided against each others in desperation, both of them hungry for it. The slow start of it didn't last as they both parted their lips to deepen the passion and increase their high. They have shared a passionate moment before, more than once and yet, this one was different. It was different because there wasn't anything else to think about. No one was near, they had no where to go, it was just the two of them taking the time to completely focus on each other without distractions and learn what happens. Both their hands gripped each others necks and waists, all places to pull in closer to intensify their kiss all the more.

Deep breaths. That was all Yami needed to keep himself from giving in to the urge and concentrate on Jane's behavior and response. Because any slip up, and she could pull away and leave him. As much as he wished to get lost in the moment, he was alert. With every soft or rough kiss...with every loud or quiet breath...and soon with every subtle or direct touch...he was never more terrified in his life. Not just because he was scared of her stopping and leaving...he was also nervous. More nervous than he's ever been that it gave him butterflies.  
As Pharaoh, he has had his own share of experiences with courtesans, but nothing like this. Not when there's true passion and love that every move is a delicate one. And he has never gone as far as he planned to tonight.

The Pharaoh's stomach turned. How on earth does he move to the next stage? Though he wouldn't mind it, they cannot kiss forever.

Jane pulled back and the Pharaoh's heart jumped in panic. No, no he couldn't lose her now.

"Ah.." Jane was slowly coming to from their moment of intense lip contact, and when Yami saw this, he leaned in close to her, bringing his lips on her neck and kissing her quickly but sweetly.

It felt wonderful. Yami's soft but strong lips were working wonders by the strap of her dress and bra...part of her wanted to pull him in and do her worst but...she was coming to believe that they've had enough of...focusing.

"Yami, don't," She paused, "We're getting carried away now..."

Yami stopped planting kisses on her neck but he did not move from where he was. He was shaking now. Her rejection was what he feared more than anything at that moment.

He remained at her shoulder by her neck, supporting his weight with one hand on his note book and the other cupped her face, almost roughly in fear to let her go and to keep her from removing the scarf.

"Yami." Jane repeated when he did not move. The all powerful Pharaoh had become desperate.

"I love you," He said desperately and quietly by her ear, "Just. Please, Jane, you mustn't-"

 _Was he crying?_ Jane could hear the breathing patterns of the kings to be unsteady and...that of a person in tears. The sound of his weakness caused Jane's eyes to water.

She knew that he loved her, that much was clear. And she, without a doubt, loved him too. Still, she had some fight left in her and this could not go on. She had her hands on his shoulders, gently applying pressure so he would pull back. He did not.

"Please," he said again, "...I am begging you now."

Jane's tears were hidden behind the scarf as she stopped attempting to push the Pharaoh away and decide to listen instead. The king kept his eyes closed as he moved from her neck to rest his forehead on hers. His blond bangs brushing the scarf and her cheeks.

"I need to be with you, it's...no longer just a desire." Yami spoke softly and extremely slowly through his crying voice, "If you're gone, I wont be able to live with myself. Air is not enough...!"

Jane froze. Without sight she couldn't judge the situation properly. But the sound of Yami's voice, and the words he spoke...made her want to take her own life.

"Nothing means more to me than you. Not the millennium items, not the Dark Magician, and not Slifer, Obelisk or Ra themselves...!" Yami stopped himself when he noticed his voice had raised slightly louder than before and he had been grinding his teeth. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes to see the frozen, blind folded dream that stood in front of him. He calmed down when she stopped pushing him off and returned his control. "I will discard my values for you. Common sense...morals...I will break them all if it means having you."

Jane clenched her jaw tightly as she was mentally at war with herself. Damn it, she wanted him too. Yami came in her life and, from what it appeared to be, he was not going anywhere no matter what, even if she tried. Weather that be him to chase her, or for her to find him. They were drawn to each other and there was nothing in the world that could change that.

Yami didn't want to give her the chance to speak. He didn't want to give her the chance to reject him, even after all of that. He put his thumb over her lips before kissing her again, this time more gently. It was almost as though, even though the Pharaoh was begging, he was showing her that he wanted her to stay because she wants to. Not because he's forcing her to.

Jane accepted the kiss and wanted to speak but she could feel the Pharaoh didn't want to part. She hummed an _um_ through the back of her throat to signal to the king that she had something to say.

Hesitantly, the Pharaoh pulled away, holding her face like a rare fragile glass sculpture that could be at risk of slipping and being gone forever. She could feel his hands shaking when she grabbed them and pulled them off of her face.

The Pharaoh let her do so and clenched his fists by his sides, already mentally planning his first move after drinking Rumpelstiltskin's potion. Jane put her hands behind her head, picking at the knot and slowly sliding the scarf off her face to reveal her dark, gorgeous eyes that met with the kings. She blinked a few moments to adjust to the darkness and when her vision was clear enough to see Yami's beautiful face with an expression of completely loneliness, Jane held the scarf out to her left.

"I don't need this." She said, dropping the fabric to the floor. She grabbed his hands again and reapplied them on her face where they were and sighed in defeat.

"Yami, I-" She said, then beginning to tear when thoughts of Yuu came to her mind again.  
A man she truley loved. But...

"...I love you more," She whispered, barely audible.  
She loved Yami more. All her actions since meeting him proved it so.

"...What?" The Pharaoh said when he wasn't fully able to pick up what she said, hoping he heard right. He rubbed her face, hoping it wasn't what he feared. Jane looked up into his eyes.

 _You win, as usual._ She thought.

"Just..." Jane shook her head, "..hurry...before I change my mind."

Yami's eyes widened. He didn't know what she meant by that exactly, but he did not waste any time. Assuming she meant what he wanted her to mean, he pulled her waist against his and broke a new kiss too quickly. And Yami took her words literally, kissing her with as much passion as he could as quickly as he could just as she asked. Or what he thought she asked.

Jane allowed this. She didn't trust herself at all. She needed Yami to stay as close as possible because she knew that once she was apart from him, she may doubt her choice to be with him just as she has in the past. She didn't want that. The Pharaoh has faught for her long enough and has been in pain long enough...and telling herself that Yuu will find a woman who was more deserving of him, offered her the confidence that she needed to believe that staying with Yami was right.

She just needed to stop the kiss for a moment to finally tell him, but finding that moment was becoming difficult...the Pharaoh was not showing any signs of the intent to stop. He continued to hold her, and pull her in tighter even if it felt that was not possible. Jane enjoyed it too. Kissing Yami for real for the first time was a complete rush, especially the way he would caress her hips, and her back and-

Jane's heart skipped when the Pharaoh had exceeded his usual boundries. She didn't mind after all, this was just a reminder of their past slip ups. Only this time, it was not a slip up. Jane sighed against his kiss, aroused by the Pharaohs grip behind her and deciding to wait a bit before stopping him.

Yami was still in complete control of himself despite his attempt to have Jane surrender to him. He let himself explore her hips and curves, wondering when it was safe to explore parts of her he had yet to know. It wasn't easy. Anything with Jane had never been easy.

He slowed down the kiss to allow themselves to catch their breaths and Jane blushed when she could feel the Pharaoh's erection against her inner thigh, that which she has never felt before and only thought of in her wildest fantasies. Was this moment becoming too heated that she should call it a night?

That wasn't what the king had in mind.

He didn't have to continue. Jane had accepted enough that he was confident she wouldn't leave him now. However, he didn't trust that enough. His hopes had been crushed too many times for him to settle with this. It was all or nothing this time and even though his eagerness and desperation wanted to get through it quickly, he was going to continue carefully. And even though he looked at this moment as a serious task of saving what they have, he was still going to enjoy every minute of it.

And so that's when he decided it was time.

Yami kissed the side of her face, just by her ear but his focus was else where. He rubbed her shoulder once, just to camouflage his hand hooking to her dress strap and slowly pushing it aside to test how much more _comfortable_ she was willing to get. He felt no sign of protest, so he tried something else. Without pulling away from her lips, the king grabbed Jane's right hand, interlocking their fingers as they kissed, reminding her that it was love first. Then he slid her hand under his leather top, pressing her smooth and delicate hands on his abdomen, letting her know that he wanted her to touch him. And just this single touch from her already had the Pharaoh filled with adrenaline. If this was what she could do to him from a single touch, he feared how much control of him she could have if she only knew.

Jane's stomach was tugging her nerves like they never have before. This was the first time in her life that she was feeling Yami's body without anything in between him and her hands. He was even sexier than she originally believed. She could feel the small slopes and curves of the muscles on his stomach and just imaging the king maintain his body was such a curiosity that she wanted to see it too. She pushed the fabric up, just enough to see him, though the Pharaoh took it upon himself to remove it all together.

He pulled it up over his shoulders and Jane held her breath wondering if she should run. She didn't intend to remove his shirt at all, but she blushed over the fact that he took the gesture that way. When his face was revealed from under the fabric, he pulled it to her left and let it fall gently on top of where she left the scarf. He pulled her in again to stop her from losing focus and getting frightened, and kissed her once more. Though, Jane was so surprised that when he pulled her in again, she tensed up her hands, almost as if touching him was an invasion of his space. Sure enough however, that didn't last...as Yami kissed her while holding her hand and putting it on his chest again. His signals were clear.

Jane's mind was running all over the place. It wasn't like they had to go all the way to mess around. After all, they have messed around before, this was just going a little further. She wasn't afraid of that. Jane kissed the king back, but her eyes were open. She was ashamed to admit that she loved what she was seeing.

After a few short seconds, she hadn't even noticed that the Pharaoh had pulled away and was watching her check him out. He smiled and loved it. He stood completely still to let her discover what could be hers if she wanted it and he hoped that she would grant him the same privilege in return.

When she was satisfied with the view, she looked up at the kings face and blushed when she realized he was waiting. Waiting for what, she denied to know.

She rubbed her hands together as if they were cold, mentally telling herself to relax. Her body was reacting as though she's never done anything like this before. It was a bit out of character for herself and she was becoming scared to lose the confidence that keeps her on her feet. But around Yami...especially like this...was weakening her.

"...Are you alright?" Yami asked in the most soft, sweet, genuine tone she's ever heard from him. The Pharaoh had lost all feelings of panic. He was calm now, and confident enough with the situation that he's willing to make room for conversation again without risking the chance for her to leave. He's so close, he knows he's almost got her.

"Uh," Jane said, more of a moan than a word, "...I'm not sure what I'm suppose to say..."

Jane leaned back as she said this and Yami's eyebrows arched a bit. His third eye glowed again and Jane squinted from the golden light. She still had a small hint of doubt in herself for going along with this and he had to demolish it immediately.

"You're not suppose to say anything," He said the words quickly then pulled her away from the bed side table with one arm and gently placing her against the wall so that she had no more room to lean away, holding her sternly while looking at her in the eyes, "Let's make love."

"..." Jane blinked in shock. "...what?" She said.

"Right now." He clarified. Yami's eyes were hard on her face, waiting for her response. He was not going to take no for an answer. When he noticed she looked frightened again, he placed the back of his fingers on her face kindly to remind her who he was.

Jane needed more than that. Her heart was beating so hard against her chest, it hurt. Did he just say that? Yami? The Pharaoh? It was so...direct. So sudden...and...so sexy.

Should she? She didn't know. Did she want to? Absolutely.

And she couldn't think of a reason why not, other than the fact she may die in the process.  
She looked at the King and saw that he still waited for her consent, just as the gentle man he was. He wouldn't have it any other way.

"I..." Jane struggled, "...may not have the strength."

Yami held back a sigh of relief that she did not completely refuse. He rubbed her face and kissed her forehead. "Not to worry," he paused, "I'll handle everything."

And with that said, the Pharaoh kissed Jane again, this time every movement a part of the next. He got to her dress, and luckily for him, fit on like a shirt. A small tug was all it took.

The dress slipped down slowly, once it passed the stretch of her large breasts that held it in place, it fell to the ground as quickly as if it had been dropped. All of this was done while the Pharaoh kept their lips locked, and he was extremely eager to pull away to see his dream in her lingerie.

Jane held her hands over her chest in a moment of insecurity. She was just not ready for the king _at all_. She imagined him at such a standard that she just could never live up to.

The Pharaoh's first attempt to pull back did not succeed. Jane forced the kiss to continue to keep him from looking at her body. He smiled at this, but sure enough, the second attempt pulled through, and when the king moved his head back, he kept his hands on her arms as her looked at the goddess in front of him.

For once, his poker face did not cover his expression. He was frozen in surprise that his imagination did not even come close to the beautiful sight that was his woman. Her hips and bust fit snug into her matching black bottoms...black. His favourite. It's as if she knew.

He couldn't wait to take them off.

"You are..." Yami managed to say, "...alluring."

Jane shielded her face in her hands as she couldn't take being starred at by the king of games. What was she suppose to do?

Luckily, the Pharaoh was in complete control. He was always a good leader, it was easy for him. He decided not to touch her just yet and instead copy her bravery.

His strong hands left her to attend to his belt.

He did not take his eyes off of her as he loosened the buckle in front of him. This wasn't about getting lucky, this was serious. This was about showing her how much he loved her. It was about sharing an intimate moment with the person that makes him so full of emotion, he could die. But most of all, it was about saving their lives. Because if he can't convince her, after all of this, to be with him...there were no words to describe the eternal pain that would make being trapped for 5000 years feel like a win.

When it was loose enough, Yami gripped onto his tight, navy blue pants, including his briefs, ready to remove it all in one go. It would be a bit much of a surprise for her though, so he smiled with plans to distract her.

"Keep your eyes on mine," he said to his nervous doll, "And don't look away."

That was easy. Jane starred into the glow of Yami's purple to red iris and pretending not to know what he was doing. The Pharaoh slightly leaned over, just enough to remove his slacks and pull them off his feet, keeping his gaze on her from the start. He stood in front of her completely bare and she was scared to look.

Scared, but extremely curious.

Eyes still locked on each others, Yami kissed her again. And again, Jane could feel him, hard against her inner thigh, even more so now that her puffy dress was by her feet and he was free of his tight, confining slacks. The Pharaoh was a step ahead, he knew she was as curious as he was. He parted their lips and breathed calmly, pretending to adjust his metal arm bands to give her the chance. He was still close enough that the bottom half of him was not in her peripheral vision...but that didn't stop her from looking down and pulling her long hair at her first view of the exposed Pharaoh. She blushed and did not hold her gaze longer than a few seconds as that was all she needed. All she could think was that, though Yami was shorter than the average man...that meant nothing.

Once Jane returned her attention to the Pharaoh's movements, he pushed his bangs away from his face in confidence and they starred into each others eyes, not because it was uncomfortable or awkward, but because it was a moment of acceptance, especially for Jane. In fact, it was she who made the next move.

"...Go easy on me." She said.

"Hm." Yami hummed through a smile that he hid from her. He didn't want to share the truth about his excitement and take away from the seriousness that was meant for this. Because this was serious, not a joke. Still...her words made him happy.

And so, the Pharaoh continued, this time pushing himself against her with more strength then before and, with her permission now, let his hands explore. He caressed her back, brought his hand to her stomach and moved up, appreciating the soft silk fabric that held her bust in place. Though it was nice, he didn't touch it for long. Yami increased the speed of his kiss at the arousing sound that came from the unhooking of her bra, and Jane was beating red from the feeling of Yami's powerful ringed hand rub her shoulder blade at the same time he removed it. Though sexy it was, she was also terrified.

Yami didn't stop to look just yet. The feeling of their bare chests pressing against each other as they kissed felt so amazing, he could die happy. But again, deep breaths was all he needed to stay collected and get the remaining piece of clothing off of her.

He paused just as his thumb slid in between the side of the strap of her underwear and her soft skin. He was still partially hurt. He wanted to ask her how far she'd been tainted and how often...he felt like her past stopped her from being his in every way and it killed him. Still...he proceeded. He was afraid a question like that would ruin this and worry her.

His heart jumped at his next move in nervousness. He slide his hands along under the silk to the front, hesitating to touch her. She knew what he was about to do and she wasn't fighting it, so that made things easier on him however, despite being the calm king he's known as, he was broken on the inside.

Jane had her hands over the Pharaohs shoulders as he worked on her for the first time. He left soft kisses around her neck and side of the face, luckily for her where she could conceal her expression. It was uncomfortable at first and her body tensed up. A reaction she couldn't control to the strange intrusion of what felt like didn't belong. She was still so full of insecurities, like she shouldn't be the woman that the Pharaoh himself would do this for. Eventually though, her mind silenced when Yami kissed her roughly, passionately...letting her know that he loved how she felt. Thanks to his kiss, Jane's paranoia diminished, and soon enough the discomfort had turned into pleasure.

She shut her eyes and dug her face into Yami's chest in embarrassment of the fantastic job he was doing. She tried to be subtle, slightly squirming against his talented hand so that the feeling heightened, and tightly holding her grip on his strong shoulders. The Pharaoh noticed her response and sighed blissfully, looking forward for his turn. When he felt a soreness in his wrist from his movements, he took the chance and removed his hand to caress her body again, slightly bending his knees to descend and leaving a trail of kisses down her chest, over her soft breasts, that he was finally able to appreciate, and to her stomach. Jane's eyes widened and tightened her grip on the Pharaoh who looked back up at her.

"Uh..." She flushed, "I don't...know if I'm ready for that."

Yami closed his eyes and quietly laughed.

"My intention was just to have this removed." He said, seductively pulling at the side of her black under wear. The king found it adorably sexy that her mind was in a deeper gutter than his was. Jane blushed even harder and covered her face.

"Oh." She said, wanting to scream for thinking he was going down on her. "I'm sorry."

Yami raised a brow and stood back up.

"What on earth are you apologizing for?" He paused, "There is no rush between you and I at all."

"Fuu," Jane blew air out in a manner to show the Pharaoh she was doing her best. "I'll do it."

Jane preferred removing her bottoms herself. She wasn't secure enough to have the Pharaoh's face so close to her there, she was much too shy. Still, she was impressed with herself for coming this far.  
Once it was off and by their clothes, Jane put her hands on the Pharaoh's chest, stopping him just before he had the chance to look.

"Don't look at her." She said. Yami blinked.

" _Her_?" He asked, surprised that she referred to her pure spot as a third person. Jane blushed and nodded.

Yami smiled at her sweetness, but was concerned. "Why not?"

"I don't know if I can go through with this if you do," She said in higher pitched voice from insecurity, "Just...can you avoid it please?"

Yami saw that she wasn't joking and he wasn't sure how he felt about not being able to look at Jane as a whole however, they were already breaking so many rules and she was being very generous with him already that he felt he could offer the same courtesy.

"Alright," he said in his usual deep voice, "I wont look at _her_."

Though he was confident she would change her mind soon enough. Because all this talk has made Jane forget that they were both barely inches apart from each other completely nude. And she was no longer holding her hands to her chest in shyness like she had been earlier...she was becoming more comfortable with the current situation. And, though the darkness limited their sight, the Pharaoh had a decent view of her now.

"Thanks." She said quietly.

For the Pharaoh, there was too much discussion. Being a man, for him, the time for them to make love was becoming over due. Yami impatiently grabbed Jane's waist and pulled her lower half against his own.

"That's enough talk." He said, silencing Jane with another passionate kiss. Jane hummed from the surprise but quickly accepted it since one thing that always turned her on about the Pharaoh was his desire to always be in control. That, she didn't mind.

She could feel Yami's length hard and immensely teasing _her._ She pulled away to lesson the contact, but the Pharaoh did not allow this. Instead, he pressed her so far up against the wall that she was standing on her toes, grinding on her and playing with her lips with his.  
There was nothing she could do to get away now.

It felt good. This was Yami's first physical sensation during their entire moment together tonight. Just the simple act of pressing flesh felt so amazing, he couldn't imagine it getting better even though he knew it could.

And it will get better. Yami's breathing was becoming heavier and louder as their kiss became messier. This made Jane more comfortable with letting herself do the same, as she had been holding her breath during the majority of it all due to her embarrassment. There were sudden pauses in between to catch their breaths but they both knew what was next, they were so inflamed with each other now that it felt like their surroundings were invisible, like they hopped dimensions or they were dreaming.

Yami rubbed her body constantly and quickly, having to take deep breaths again before he lost too much control of himself. He pressed his forehead against hers, taking a break from their kiss and grabbed her arms, wrapping them around his neck for support.

"Hold on," he commanded, just before lifting her up, holding onto to her tightly and wrapping her legs around his waist easily as she was approving of it all. At this point, she was just as eager as he was, after all, truth was, she's wanted Yami to do this to her for as long as she can remember.

And he did. The Pharaoh was strong, able to hold her in place as he positioned himself to enter her. It was easy. It was like their bodies had a mind of their own and did the deed for them because Yami barely had to work for it and only applied the smallest amount of pressure. And when he was in, he could not hold back a short groan of the intense ecstasy that rushed through out his body. It felt amazing. She was amazing.

It was different for Jane. She hugged the Pharaoh while grinned her teeth at the pain when he went through, but she said nothing. Nothing because she wasn't new to this. She just had to wait it out and when the pain subsides, she could finally get to know how Yami feels.

The king was no fool, he knew how anatomy worked. He could sense from her body that she was undergoing discomfort despite the opposite for himself. What surprised him though was that Jane was under any pain at all. A woman who was sexually active would not be going through this. It was like her first time...

"Jane," Yami managed to say through his breathes, "What's wrong?"

Jane sighed at the sound of his erotic voice, "I'm just...adjusting."

Yami blinked and was still. Jane rubbed her cheek on his.

"Please don't stop," She complained, "It hurts more when you're still."

Yami obeyed and began his first set of slow thrusts against her fragile figure, paying attention to her movements and putting her desires before his own. He had so many questions about her sexuality that he was dieing to know! But all in good time. After all, how could he think about anything else but the feeling of unifying with the woman he loves?

Jane sunk against Yami when the pain stopped and the pleasure was building up. Finally. Her arms slacked over his shoulders like she was weak. Weak for him. And she didn't have to use a single muscle to hold herself, the Pharaoh had enough strength to do that for her. He was not holding back when he said that he would handle everything.

Still, as arousing as it was when Jane gripped his hair and their speed picked up by the wall, the Pharaoh was limited. Having to hold her up and support his own weight at the same time did not allow him to touch and hold her. He wanted to touch her face, grab her hair, her waist, and get to know every part of her. The thoughts made him shiver.

He put her down. Surprising her, he kissed her on the lips once before stepping just two feet away to his closet to grab a thick, soft blanket that he tossed to the floor. Jane watched him, not even paying attention or caring in the slightest what he was doing. She just admired him and rubbed her face from the over heat she felt from just the sight of Yami's body.

The Pharaoh stood over the blank that had been tossed to a spread.  
He held out his hand, gesturing her to take it. She did, without hesitation.

They kissed passionately once before sitting over the blanket on the floor simultaneously. Yami sat relaxed, one leg crossed and the other on an arc where he rested his arm on it and held Jane's hand with the other hand. She knealed right in front of him, supporting her weight with both hands, leaning forward in wanting. The Pharaoh held her face and kissed her again as Jane moved herself closer to him for an embrace. And with this embrace, Yami turned over, putting her down so his top half was hovering over her and his bottom half layed beside hers. He rubbed her body, in sweet places and not, occasionally kissing her as she held him. What surprised him the most, out of the entire night, was when Jane touched him in return...the most sensitive part of him.

It was a light touch, but enough to drive him mad. The gesture alone, he appreciated, so he leaned down to kiss her face with utmost true love.

"I'm sorry I took so long..." Jane whispered to the king. He pulled back to look at her in surprise. Jane sighed to clarify, "You're the one. I love you too much."

Yami sighed in relief, partially collapsing on her. The task has been done. By Ra's miracle, he was able to over come all the suffering and won over the woman of his dreams. And for some reason, his eyes watered. All of his panic and worry had come out of hiding and he kissed Jane over and over again quickly in thanks. Then he paused.

"I worried you would still choose to leave my side," He said through his tearful, cracking voice, ironically with a chuckle. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, "I never had so much fear in my entire life. Now I may sleep easy."

Jane frowned.

"Next time I'm terrible, just give me a time out in the shadow realm..." She said.

"Hm," Yami smiled sweetly. "We can discuss that at a later time. It's getting late..."

Jane blushed, not wanting to end the night with him, "Yeah but...not _too_ late. Right?"

Yami laughed. "No, of course not. Time will not stop me from being with you, my queen."

Jane blushed at her new pet name. Wow...would she ever get used to that? He said it so fast...

After saying those words, Yami leaned in, this time without the intention to pull away until they were done.

And that's what he did.

The next hour and a half was completely without speech...just kissing, touching, playing, moving, cuddling, and even laying together in silence. The only sounds from them were sounds of pleasure, grace, movement and the sounds of their breathing. They wrapped the blanket over them, rolled partially over the carpet...neither of them wanted to get off the ground if it meant separating from each other. Both had already completely forgotten about Jane's request to Yami not looking at _her_. He got to know all of Jane very well. And even when they had both reached their limits and were completely broke from exhaustion...it was only another several hours of doing it all over again on the kings bed. It was the night of making up for so much pain and lost time. It was the night of consummation for their new relationship.

* * *

In the darkness late at night...

"Hey, Yami?" Jane breathed out after a long while... The Pharaoh moaned at her voice.

"...Yes?" He said to her.

"...Does this mean I can keep my key?"

Yami chuckled.

* * *

 **A/N: I also been looking forward to this for years writing this fiction and, even if its just a story, i feel satisfied as fuck that its finally here.** **I know its late but I hope i get to read your responses real soon because like, im dieing to know because im dieing inside and i need someone else to die inside too so i dont die alone. IN CONCLUSION. I hope you guys like it! Try not to get too hot ;) And Im proud of myself...BUT the story is far from over ohohohoh.**


	17. Vol 3 Ch 1: The After Effect

_Last Time on SG..._

 _The Pharaoh had become a desperate man. Now that Jane had threatened to leave, he was willing to do anything to keep her from leaving him. After talking with Link about what to do next, he concluded that the only way to compete with Yuu was to share the most intimate moment of all with Jane...create the best memory. Yami had set up the house to be empty, where he, despite his better judgment and morals, made love to her. The two confessed their feelings and Yami was finally able to claim her as his, this time for sure. It was a long night...though, because of the sensitive mood, Yami had not touched up on some questions he had for her about her past. Would it be safe to ask in the morning?_

* * *

 **Savannah Georgia ~ FORwarD sequel**  
Volume 3 – Chapter 1: " _The After Effect._ "

 _The following after noon  
12:00 pm  
The house  
Narrator's P.O.V_

The sun was shining through all the windows of the house. To the Pharaoh, it felt like it's never been brighter...happier in his home. Last night was a dream, so much so that it didn't feel real. But it was. The sleeping beauty next to him proved it so. Jane slept soundly under the covers in the large bed, wearing nothing but one of his shirts as the king sat up next to her, going through his phone and replying to messages from his dear Yugi, all with good news. He had been up for a while, in fact, Yami hadn't slept for more then 2 hours when he went to rest. How could he? He was just full of thoughts and questions about the night before, going through it in his mind again...noting the moments he loved the most and imagining the future. He had even left the house early in the morning to take care of some things and returned...almost feeling like she'd be gone but, when he found her still asleep in his room, it was like a thrilling sensation went off in his heart. He only looked forward to the day to wake up to this every morning.

Jane was finally coming to. The sun wasn't easy to sleep through. She squinted at first, but when she was conscious again and remembered recent events, she blushed to herself and looked around for the Pharaoh. When she saw him sitting up right by her on his phone, she noticed that he had already dressed himself. Jane bit her lip from the memory, surprised at herself for her actions of the night before and squirmed over closer to the king. When he noticed her move, he immediately turned his gaze from the phone to her with a big smile.

"Good afternoon," He said. Jane blinked.

"...afternoon?" She repeated, looking at Yami's phone for the time and confirming it herself. "When did it get so late?"

Yami closed his eyes and Jane blushed. "Don't answer that." She corrected.

Yami chuckled. "Here." The Pharaoh turned to his left for the night table, picked up a glass of water and a small pill that he had put there earlier and turned to face Jane again, holding it in her direction.

Jane sat up properly and looked at the drug in confusion.

"What's that for?" She asked. Yami gestured it again and Jane took the glass and the pill. Yami rubbed her face once with his right hand.

"It's just a precaution." He said. Jane looked down and became beat red when understanding what the drug was for. She was so embaressed...and ashamed. It was so out of character for her to forget about contraceptives. Yet, here was Yami. Always prepared. Of course.

"Right..." She said, taking the medication right away. "So...where is everyone?"

Yami finished up a reply to Yugi and put his phone aside.

"Down stairs," Yami said, "Duke and Mai have also stopped by."

Jane looked up in shame. And Mai hasn't come looking for her? She could bet they're suspicious for sure. How does one explain what she just did...she couldn't even look at the Pharaoh for too long, she hasn't taken in their behavior.

Yami noticed Jane squirming and grabbed her hand. They couldn't just pretend like nothing happened.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, "Is there anything you'd like to go over?"

Jane looked at the considerate king and shrugged.

"No really I'm just," She paused, "...still overwhelmed."

Yami smiled, "The feeling's mutual." Then he became serious. "However, there is something I would like to discuss."

Jane was curious and looked at the Pharaoh, shyness gone. "Oh yeah?"

"Yes," he began, "We cannot avoid the subject any longer."

Yami remained silent for a few seconds before speaking again.

"What will be your next move in regards to Yuu?"

Jane went from curious to incredible sadness. He was right, she couldn't ignore it anymore.

"Oh...that." She said, "...well...of course I'm going to have to break up with him now."

Yami's poker face remained.

"May I ask you something else?" He said, "There was a moment that brought me confusion. Last night you seemed...after all, I am certain that it was not your first experience..."

He struggled to ask the question, but Jane was quick to understand.

"No, it wasn't...I'm sorry." She said with a frown.

"Then...why did you show signs of discomfort at first?" Yami asked her. Jane sighed.

"Well because...it felt like the first time." She explained and heavily sighed, "There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just come out with it. Yuu and I did not, um...I mean, we rarely...you know...and the times we tried were...minimal."

The Pharaoh had to know more.

"How minimal?" He asked. Jane blushed.

"Nothing like what went on with you, that's for sure." She said, nearly high pitched.  
Now _that_ , Yami loved to hear. He still wished he was her first, but if that's the best he could save himself from, it would do.

"That brings me great joy," He said, looking to the side, "I feared much worse."

"Worse?" Jane blinked, "What, did you think we went at it every day?"

Yami half smiled. "Living here, no. Not recently."

Jane pursed a lip. It wasn't wrong for the Pharaoh to assume she was more active with Yuu considering their long term romance but it was still strange to think about herself that way never mind the King thinking of her that way.

Jane raised a brow, "Hang on, Yami! What about you?"

The Pharaoh blinked, "I beg your pardon?"

Jane tucked her head in, "Well...I told you my experience...I'm only curious about...yours..."

Yami smiled and rubbed his forehead. "Well...I had my share of...um,"

Jane remembered hearing the guys over Duke's butt dial, so she had already known. Still, she wanted to hear it from him. And the fact that he even _stuttered_ made her incredibly suspicious of bad behavior!

"We are in similar circumstances," He said, "Nothing, at all, like last night."

Jane huffed. "That's too vague."

Yami chuckled, happy to hear she was just as jealous. He shifted in place.

"There isn't much to go into, my queen. As Pharaoh, I was taken care of, that was all. Even then, they were not such moments of intimacy, it was merely a service to ensure that I-"

Jane covered her ears, "Oh God, I don't wanna know."

Yami laughed, "You are imagining it worse than it is, Jane. I promise."

Jane smirked, "It better, don't get any ideas, Yami. Pharaoh or not. You want this? You gotta make sacrifices."

Yami smiled, watching Jane be herself again and comfortable enough to play around.  
He cleared his throat.

"That reminds me, I have a request." He said, when Jane was quiet, "I think it's time you drop the alias and refer to me by my true name, don't you agree?"

Jane's eyes widened. "You...want me to start calling you Atem?"

Yami nodded.

"It is my name after all." He said.

"You don't like Yami?" She asked concerned. Yami shook his head.

"I don't dislike it," he said, "It's just...not my name."

Jane blushed. "...I can get used to Atem."

Yami showed his thanks by grabbing her hand that rested on the bed. Then his expression became serious again as he put his hand under Jane's chin to call back her attention.

"Listen..." He said, "I am sure you understand that I will not be content with this until you talk to Yuu."

Jane sighed and crossed her legs over the blankets, "Yeah I know. Me neither."

Yami put his strong hand on her thigh. "Shall I book a flight for this weekend?"

Jane remained silent for a few seconds before shoving her face into her palms.

"Urgh..." She groaned, "I don't think I can do it."

"You can't...or you won't?" Yami said in a dark tone. Jane looked up and clenched Yami's shirt to reassure him of her decision.

"I will! I swear, Yami! I will-" Jane paused, "uh...I mean, Atem."

Yami looked into her eyes and sensed fear from her voice. She released her grip and calmed down.

"I will, Atem. I promise, I just..." Her eyes began to water, "...I need to prepare myself. I don't know if I'll have the strength to see his face when he hears me out."

The Pharaoh's neutral face remained as usual, listening to Jane speak about Yuu completely open in a way she never had before. What could he do to help her?

"Jane." He said, "Do you really believe that he will as surprised as you are predicting?"

Jane blinked. "Well, I mean...he has no idea that our relationship is even near it's end."

Yami wasn't buying it. She came to live with another man in another country. If Jane did that now to the Pharaoh, he would never be ok with it. He was sure that Yuu must have suspected something.

"It must be done." He said. Jane leaned in, requesting a hug from the king.

"Can you do it for me?" She asked. Yami lightly laughed, pushing her back to stay serious.

"That would not be appropriate." He said, though liking the idea. "Why don't you give him a call?"

Jane pulled back and widened her eyes. "Call him?"

Yami nodded and Jane squirmed.

"Dumping him over the phone? Isn't that so...?"

The Pharaoh shut his eyes for a moment, "Yes...however, it may be your only option. If you had the strength to do so face to face, you would have long before..am I correct?"

Jane blushed, "Yeah...wayyyyyyy before."

Both of them could recall their own memories, realizing that if she has been single earlier, last night would have not been new. A tiny hint of red plastered both of their faces.

"...What should I tell him?" Jane said with her voice in panic.

Yami unlocked his phone and gave it to Jane.

"The truth." He said. Jane took his phone, her hand shaking. "Shall I leave you to it?"

Jane panicked and threw her hands on the Pharaoh's shoulders.

"NO!" She said, loudly, "I can't do this without you here, I'll wimp out again!"

Yami smirked, happy to hear that. Truth was, he was very curious to witness this conversation. He only spoke to Yuu a few times but never after learning the truth about him.

"Alright," he said, resting his body on the back of the bed. "I'll stay."

Jane sighed in relief, "Ok but..don't say anything. I don't want him to know you're with me."

Yami nodded. Of course he would remain quiet, what would he possibly to say to Yuu?

Jane snuggled up as close to the king as she could so that he wrapped his right arm around her. Her heart was beating so fast but not in the way it was before. It was beating because she was preparing to hurt someone. And not just anyone...but the kindest, most wonderful person she's ever come to know.

"Here goes..." She said, dialing. Yami kept his poker face, but he was never more eager to get a phone call over with. As it rang, Jane turned the speaker on just in case she needed support from the Pharaoh on how to respond.

... Tkk* "Hello?"

Jane's heart was beating in her chest so hard now, Yami could feel it and rubbed her arm to give her courage.

"Hey, Yuu." Jane managed to say.

"Jane?" He said, surprised, "Where are you calling from?"

Jane held her breath, "...Atem's phone. Mine's charging..."

She lied. Hearing Yuu's voice actually brought quite the bit of guilt to Yami as well.

"Oh, well what's up? I haven't heard from you in a few days, I miss you." He said.

The Pharaoh cringed and Jane's vision blurred. She looked at Yami and he brushed her hair back.

"Yeah...I've been occupied with Joey's wedding...sorry." She said.

"It's cool." He said, already suspicious of Jane's tone. Jane took a deep breath.

"Listen, Yuu...remember a few years ago...when you went to study in New York for senior year and we almost broke up?" Jane asked.

Yami turned his head at the speed of light, completely shocked by this.

"Yeah...?" He said.

"I'm...uh," Jane's voice cracked, "...rethinking our decision..."

Jane held the phone against the blanket so Yuu could not hear her tears. The Pharaoh pulled her in closer to his chest to try to comfort her, but he was still surprised himself.

"This isn't about long distance," Yuu said. Jane bringing the phone back to her. "This is about Atem...isn't it?"

Jane's eyes widened, "What?"

"It's ok...I sort of knew this was coming..." He said, "To be honest, I'm surprised it took this long and I was hoping it meant I was wrong but..I guess you just took longer than I thought."

Jane pulled away from Yami, sitting up and tears gone. She was stunned.

"You predicted that I would do this? How? When did I-"

"Because, Jane. I know you." He said, "...I also love you, but that isn't enough, is it?"

Jane's eyes watered again, "I love you too, Yuu," She paused, "You were always good to me, I just..."

"Hey, I'm the one who should be crying, idiot." He said, bringing a smile to Jane's face, ironically making it all even harder.

"Thank you," She said. Yuu huffed.

"Let's not let this get too depressing..." He said, "We can still be friends, after all."

"Of course," Jane lied. Being friends with Yuu and risk hurting Yami again? No way.

"See you around, Jane." He said. Her tears fell down her face when she heard Yuu hang up the line.

She was frozen in place...shocked at how quick the conversation turned out and feeling strange that it had finally happened. She was also mortified. She would miss him...a LOT. And she would always hold the memories close to her heart.

The Pharaoh had many questions...again. But there was always time for that. He leaned over so that he was next to Jane to retrieve his phone.

"He was in great grief." Yami said, "He tried to hide it, but he was."

And he was. Yuu hung up quickly to spare Jane too much guilt. The Pharaoh wished the best for Yuu and his years to come.

Jane wiped her eyes., trying to speak but failing. Yami pitted her.

"I'm sorry." He said, "It's not easy to forget your first love...but I shouldn't have to convince my queen that she should be with me."

Jane blushed through her tears, feeling like she couldn't breath as easily as before.

"I know. I know, it's just," Jane's voice shaking, "When I'm with you, I feel like one person but when I'm with Yuu I feel like someone totally different."

Yami wiped the tears from Jane's face with his thumb. He kept silent as he couldn't provide her with a response. How could he? What could he possibly say? All he can do is spend the rest of his life proving to her that she made the right decision when she chose him.

There was a moment of silence as the Pharaoh watched Jane collect herself. She was strong, so he continued to keep quiet until she was ready to speak up. She did. After a short rough sigh.

"You know what, though?" She said. The king could hear the shaking in her voice calming down. "I didn't like who I was when I was with him."

Yami's eyebrows rose a bit. She looked up.

"I was a terrible person for what I did to him...and you. I did things that I'd normally crucify someone else for doing the same and, I didn't know why. But now I feel...I feel like I don't have to pretend anymore."

"Pretend?" Yami asked. Jane shrugged.

"I was lieing to him on a regular basis, it was becoming too much work." She lightly laughed, her tears evaporating. She wasn't done grieving, but it was hard to be sad for long around the Pharaoh.

With a poker face, "...Are you...sure you are able to leave Yuu in the past?"

"I don't think I'll ever forget him." She explained, "We spent so much time together, that our experiences have become part of who I am. I don't...think I can forget someone who had such an influence on me."

Yami was surprised with himself that he actually wasn't jealous when she said this. Had it been a few days ago, he would feel like banishing Yuu to the shadow realm. But despite her strong, devoted feelings toward that boy, she still chose the Pharaoh. So, what would she have to say to that?

"...You.." For the first time in ages, the Pharaoh struggled to ask a question. "Tell me...I...he's..."

Jane looked up surprised to see that Yami's poker face was weak. "Hm?" She waited, tears almost all gone. Yami held her hand.

"...He holds an extremely large portion of your heart." He finally said, "I...don't know how I feel about that...however...if such is the case then...why?"

Jane rubbed her eye, "Why what?"

Yami brushed back her hair, "I know I pressured you and I hold deep shame for that...still. I did not force you to stay with me...but you did. Despite having the feelings that you do...powerful feelings that I feel are impossible to compete with...you stayed."

Jane smiled, "You're asking me why?"

The Pharaoh's insecurities were in full display since he begged her to stay last night and felt that they would remain so until she cured him of the burden.

"Because I love you more." She said, "It's a different feeling, you know. I..." Jane looked down embarrassed, "...I get more nervous around you and your presence makes me want to be the best I can be because you're so...intimidating and hard to measure up to. I admire you for so many reasons. _Pharaoh_ does not describe how I see you, that's just the start. Plus..."

Yami didn't want to interrupt her, he needed to hear this so that he felt more confident in her devotion to him. Jane blushed.

"...I never fantasized over Yuu..." She said, beat red, "...You were always creeping my mind. Like...every day...every moment...like, it was annoying sometimes."

Yami looked to the side quickly and back, barely succeeding in hiding his lustful thoughts.

"...I was in your fantasies." He stated, taking that in. Jane pulled her hand away from his to hold them as stiff as obelisks as they pinned her feet down to control her blushing. He already knew she lusted after him but what surprised him was her courage to say so. And having it confirmed made it feel more real. It was a turn on. "...What else?"

Jane didn't even realize she wasn't sad anymore.

"What else is there? Everything about you is set in place for me to be in love, there's no escaping it no matter what, didn't yesterday clear the doubts you had?" She said. Yami smiled.

The Pharaoh was just making sure. After all, she did change her mind several times.

"Yeeesssss, but...to put it bluntly..." He insisted. Jane laughed.

"You're the one, Atem! I'm not going anywhere. I promise. Stop worrying. I'm yours."

The way she said that sent waves of relief, temptation, love, and weakness throughout the Pharaoh's body all at the same time like he couldn't believe. The king grabbed Jane's waist, forcing her to lay back on the bed submissively so he was able to kiss her with just as much passion as he did hours ago. Jane blinked in surprise as it was even more forceful then before. Still, she kissed him back the same...

"You were holding back before," Yami said when he pulled away to breath. Jane blushed.

"So were you." She said. Yami smiled and kissed her again, caressing her bare thigh and surprised with himself that, despite getting no sleep and being at it all night with her, he could still go at it again. He could never have enough of her.

"I regret to say I have business to attend to this afternoon," Yami said, breaking their kiss. He pulled himself off of her and the bed to make his way to her clothes that he had folded earlier that morning. He picked them up and put them on the bed next to Jane where she now sat up with an expression of dissatisfaction.

"Business?" She asked, grabbing her clothes with the intent to take them to her room.

"The museum," He clarified. "Why don't you get changed and meet us downstairs for lunch?"

No. Now that Jane was free of the guilt, all she wanted was to stay with Yami.

"Sure." Jane blushed and stood off the bed, holding her clothes close to her. Before heading out though, Jane noticed Yami's old jacket hanging in the closet – the one he shared with Yugi. She blinked, trying to recall the last time she's seen him wear it when...she realized that the entire time she's know him, she's never seen the jacket in person. She walked to the closet to feel the material. "Isn't this Yugi's?"

Yami was making his bed when he looked at Jane long enough to see what she was referring to and returning his attention to his chore.

"No, Yugi's left his in Domino." He answered, tossing the pillows to the floor and out of the way. Jane hummed. When Yami and Yugi separated, did Yami get his own set of clothes? Jane smiled, deciding not to question the ancient magic.

Yami stopped for a moment to watch Jane admire the coat.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Jane blushed and shook her head.

"Yup! Just got a moment of nostalgia there." She said, holding her clothes to her chest. The Pharaoh smiled.

"You can go on ahead, my queen." He said, "I'm almost done here."

"...Ok." She said, walking out of the kings room slowly. She looked back once, but the Pharaoh was occupied with tidying his room so she went on. When she was in the hall, turning into her room, she felt like she came out of a nest of dreams, almost as though fantasy ended and she came back to reality. She didn't want to go down stairs. She just wanted to stay with Yami.

* * *

Downstairs

It didn't take long for the Egyptian king to exit his room and join the others downstairs since he had already been up for several hours. Upon entering the main floor on a Saturday afternoon, everyone seemed to be doing their own thing. Lucia and Duke were just deciding on what to have for lunch, talking among themselves while they put the dishes from breakfast into the dish washer though they seemed half-distracted. Lucia was writing notes into her journal, probably about that new novel of hers.

Yami could hear her suggest take out, but stopped paying mind after that. Link was helping Junior with his homework in the living room across the hall where the king watched and even Joey, Mai, and Yugi were occupied, preparing for Kaiba's tournament and Joey and Mai's honeymoon.

Deciding to let them be, Yami walked near Link and Junior who sat over school books. When Link looked at Yami he smiled, looked back down and then turned his gaze back up quickly when he recalled their conversation.

"Hey Pharaoh." Link said, "It's...the afternoon."

"Yes, it is." Yami said. Link grunted, giving the pencil to Junior.

"...How'd it go?"

At this, Yami only winked in response. Link smiled deviously at the king, wanting to congratulate him for the successful night but decided to keep things on the down low in the presence of others.

Joey ran through the hall before seeing the Pharaoh and applying force to his feet, sliding against the wooden floor and creaking them to a stop. He pulled his head into the lounging area, holding his weight by grabbing the large fish tank and blinked.

"Nyeh! Pharaoh, where were you all morning?" he asked. Yami smiled at the boy.

"I've always been here, Joey. How are you?" He said. Joey pursed his lip, noticing Yami's good mood and knowing this was all weird since they dropped by, recalling when Link stopped Lucia from going upstairs to look for Jane earlier.

"...You know you're looking particularly sparkly today, Pharaoh," Joey said raising a brow, "...like you just returned from a night at the message parla'."

Link laughed softly at the irony. Lucia walked into the room, also curious.

"Soo," She wanted to ask, "Where _is_ Jane, anyway?"

From the look on her face, Yami could tell she was up to speed.

"She'll be down soon." He said, putting his hands in his pockets, "I have to stop at the Museum later this afternoon so, Lucia, if you don't mind, carry on with your plans to order."

She nodded, happy that things worked out and soon footsteps was heard from the main stair case. Jane came down, wearing a comfy pair of tights and a baggy sweat shirt that revealed her shoulders. Her hair was in a loose braid and she wore extremely fuzzy socks. Her attire was clear that she did not have an intent to leave the house today.

Yami smiled as he watched her approach them. For him, he was finally living. For Jane however, it was still slightly awkward. Last time she was in the presence of her friends, she was running away from him. It was quite the getting used to.

"Hey guys," She said.

"Where were you, last night?" An oblivious Lucia asked, wearing jeans and a pink tank top, "I thought you were sleeping at the Vocaloid's with Mai, but when she came here this morning I was so confused."

When Duke heard this, he threw his head back in laughter, coming from the kitchen.

"Hahaha! Oh man! You guys - took you long enough!" he said, "No wonder you slept in!"

Everyone who knew about this fell anime style except Link, who was still furious about previous events and has been holding all he could not to beat the crap out of him. Jane blushed at Duke's laughter.

"You know it's Joey's honey moon, not yours." He added. Jane covered her face in shame and Lucia's jaw dropped when she was the last to catch on. Yami stepped next to Jane and rubbed her face once so she was less embarrassed.

"Are you hungry?" The king asked her. Before Jane responded, Mai took initiative and dialed her phone to call for a pizza.

"How much should I order?" She asked. Mai's questions snapped Yugi out of it, reminding him that he was on his way out.

"I'm not eating!" He said, now copying Joey's sprint from before.

"Yugi?" Lucia called out at his sudden rush.

"Sorry Lucia, I gotta go register for Kaibia's World Tournament. I'll be back tomorrow though, okay?"

"So does this mean your entering for sure?," Lucia frowned a bit. "Did you talk to Yami about this?"

"Sort of," Yugi straightened up. "We'll talk about this later, I really don't want to be late," He said. "Coming, guys?"

Mai and Joey nodded when Yugi called them and joined them at the door. Jane smiled at Lucia when Yami sat down by Link to talk.

"So, finally the honey moon begins, huh?" Jane asked, beginning to feel better.

"Of course," Mai said, amused. "it won't be like what went down with you last night though. Are you going to tell us what the story is?"

"I thought you were going to leave!" Lucia declared. "Are you staying?"

Jane blushed, sneakily checking their surroundings and pushing the girls a couple of steps up the stairs, away from the guys. She took a deep breath.

"Yami and I had a looong...talk yesterday." Jane summarized, griping onto the rail.

"A talk?" Mai said with a tone of curiosity.

"Yeah we...you know...talked."

Mai smiled and Lucia blinked.

"So how was this...talk?" Mai asked. Jane blushed and brought her arms to her chest.

"It was...reallyyyy good." She confessed.

"And by talk she means...not talk, right?" Lucia asked, understanding the code but just making sure.

Mai laughed. "Oh they talked alright, but they did more than that." She clarified.

"But Jane," Lucia worried, "I thought you were going to go home. What about Yuu?"

"I am home." Jane closed her eyes. "So I broke up with him."

The girls eyes widened.

"You did?" Lucia said. Jane nodded and Mai rolled her eyes.

"Finally." She said. Lucia smiled.

"Well now that it's safe to say this...what were you thinking? Yami is sooooo much cooler."

Jane laughed, understanding there was a bias with them but happy with the turn out either way.

Yami stared at the closed door after Yugi took Mai and Joey back he and silently turned back around to Link who had pulled off his tights as Junior scribbled into his daily journal for his English assignment.

"Link?" Yami questioned.

"Something is stuck in these tights-" Link grunted as he pulled out what looked like silly putty. He ran the smooth ball of toy plastic between his index finger and thumb. "Junior?" he asked, looking to the young Hylian. "How did this end up in my tights?"

Junior laughed a bit and got off the floor by the coffee table where he wrote, walking over and taking back the toy, stretching it between his fingers.

"I was playing with it last night when it bounced off the edge of my bed and it disappeared. Must have fallen in the pile of clothes you left on the floor, brother," he explained, walking back to his homework, wrapping the putty around his pencil as a decoration as he wrote. Link sighed while the Pharaoh chuckled a bit, replying to a quick text from Yugi. Link stood up from the couch to redress himself.

"Is that Yugi already? Ask him how I can get Junior to do his homework by himself. He never listens to me. If I leave the room, the kid fools around." Link said, receiving a tongue from his little brother. Yami smiled.

"Yugi just met with Tea, they're registering for Kaiba's new tournament." He explained, "He wont be back to watch over Junior for some time."

Link groaned in frustration.

"I'm done!" cried out Junior as he closed his book happily and pushed it away from him, happy he didn't have to deal with it now for another two days.

"I knew you could do it," Link cheered. "Maybe next time, you can do it by yourself?"

"Maybe," Junior got up again, leaving his things on the table. "C'mon Gumball!" he turned to his pig who was waiting with Little Link. "Let's go play!" he ran over and picked up the pig that sniffed at his blond hair and soon the little Hylian was upstairs and out of sight.

* * *

Later

 _Lucia And Jane in the Town_

"And you knew about it the whole time?" Jane asked, now dressed in dark tights, a net style white top and white flats. Her intention wasn't to go out at all, but since everyone had left and the king was at work, she decided a walk may help her out since she was still overwhelmed with previous events.

"Well, sort of," Lucia explained, "I knew Link called Mai to set up you up for a talk and he was going to try to make you stay but I didn't know that things would go...that well."

Jane blushed, watching Little Link walk ahead.

"Yeah I didn't either," She breathed, "But I'm glad it did. I really did not want to leave, trust me."

Lucia raised a brow, "So does this mean you and Yami are like official? Like, what's..?"

Jane hummed in thought. "I guess. I don't know, I'm single now. The first time in years..." She paused, "I have a lot of mixed feelings. Originally I was going to break up with Yuu anyway and rid myself of all this guilt and drama but, now that I've finally accepted that I need to be with Atem, I don't feel trapped like I did before. It feels right thinking of him but, we never really defined our new relationship."

Lucia kicked a stone, "Do you need to though? I think actions speak louder than words, don't you?"

Jane chuckled, "Yeah you're right. He did call me his queen a few times. Sort of a new nickname he's pulled on me."

Lucia winked, "A nickname, or is he initiating something else?" She said seductively, "I can't imagine Yami with a girlfriend, I only see him with a wife."

Jane blushed, "Yeah...I know. 'Cause he's Pharaoh and all. I mean, I guess if it were up to him, he'd jump to marriage pretty soon. In his time, people got married really early, I don't think dating really existed. Especially for a Pharaoh...he could just pick and choose and no one had a say, not even the woman."

"Well, yeah but Yami is also super modernized right?" Lucia added. Jane nodded. He was the modern Pharaoh after all. But could she ever say out loud that Yami was her...boyfriend? It was strange.

"It's still weird...but...I'm ok with not defining our relationship and leaving it as it's own little..the unique thing that it is," Jane said, making a turn, "But I do want to do something for him."

Lucia chuckled. "What more can you do? You did plenty last night."

Jane threw her arms up, "Ok! Lucia, are you going to let that go?"

Lucia laughed, just having difficultly imaging her friend and the Pharaoh in that way.

"I'm sorry, you're right. You should, after all, you, like, tortured him for over a year, right?" She said. "So what do you want to do?"

Jane stopped at a window, looking into a jewelry shop and noticing stunning men's watches on display. She was no expert on brands and such, but she was quite keen on picking up quality from not since her father always had an interest in them and taught her some. She smiled, pointing at the variety.

"How about a gift?" She said, pushing the door open to let herself inside to look at a wider collection.

The girls looked at the watches under the glass, squirming at the unfriendly prices. However, Jane was not driven away. If she was going to give Yami a gift, she knew he would want the best, just as she believes he deserves.

"Why don't you get him some Yugioh cards instead?" Lucia asked. Jane smiled, admiring the watch designs.

"'Cause that's too easy. Everyone gives Atem Duel Monster cards because they know he'll love them. I want to give him something a little more...classy, you know?"

"You think he'd like a watch?" Lucia said, leaning against the glass.

"I do. I think he'd love one." She said without looking at her friend. Any one can see that her choice came not from thought, but from love.

"I like those two gold ones." Jane said, Lucia blinking.

"That price tag is unreal," she added. "But he _is_ Pharaoh...man that's gotta suck for gift giving occasions."

Jane laughed, "It's also great for gift receiving."

Lucia rolled her eyes when a clerk came to help them out. She was a tall woman with glasses and luckily for Jane, wasn't a pushy salesman.

"Can I help you girls today?" She asked. Jane smiled with a nod.

"Yeah, can I see those two gold watches, please?" Jane asked. When the woman pulled them out, Jane held them both to weigh them in her hands, determining which contained more gold. They were both beautiful watches, but the heavier one was brighter in colour and had a gold screen as opposed to black like the other. Near the hands, there was a tiny crown logo of the brand that, ironically, fit his theme. She looked at it more closely, appreciating the Greek numeric symbols in place of numbers and that the screen displayed the date as well. She didn't expect to find the perfect watch so early on, but she couldn't deny that Atem would love this one.

"Is this a gift?" The woman asked. Jane smiled.

"Yeah, it is." She said, trying to find the way to describe that the person it was for was an ancient Pharaoh, "He uh...has very expensive taste." The woman smiled, "May I suggest having it engraved?"

Jane's eyes lit up and Jane smiled.

"Ooo, that would surprise Yami for sure." She said, "What would it say?"

Jane blushed. So many options. She could write his name, her name, lyrics from his song, or-

"I'll leave you to decide," The woman said, walking to the other side of the store when another customer entered. Jane pulled the roots in hair, feeling pressured.

"I could write a million things but...if I write something, it's gotta be impactful and that's so hard to think of," Jane explained. Lucia pursed her lip.

"How about something sweet like, _I love you_ or, _I'm yours_." She brain stormed out loud, "Or a phrase from that song he sang. It got really emotional when he said, _and fall right back to you._ "

"...how about Your Queen?" Jane said from a sudden thought, "That's what he's been calling me after all. Maybe that's significant?"

Lucia nodded. "I like it, since he's Pharaoh and all. Had he ever given you a gift before?"

Jane blinked. "Well..yeah. He gave me a key to his Museum so I can go in whenever I wanted, having infinite live references for studies."

Lucia blinked. "That's generous. Why didn't I know this?"

Jane smiled, "I know, sorry. It was still back when Diana was still around..." She said, scribbling on a note bad left on the counter for the woman to reference. It said, _Can I Keep My Key?_

"I don't get it." Lucia raised a brow and Jane blushed.

"It's sort of...an inside joke." She said. When the woman returned, she grabbed the watch and moved to the cash register.

"Ok, you may pick up the watch this evening but you need to put a deposit down." She said. Jane turned into her bag, rummaging through it in search for her wallet...only to realize she had left it at the house. She groaned in frustration.

"I forgot my wallet..." She said, looking at Lucia.

"Oh dear," Lucia rolled her eyes, "You better pay me back in cash, woman. This is so expensive!"

Lucia pulled out her bank card and Jane hugged her in thanks.

* * *

The House  
 _Back Yard_

"So, you're taking the cover off?" Lucia asked as she watched Link, now recovered from his fever and feeling energized, pull the cover off the pool to prepare for the summer season. It was beautiful out and, now that everyone was in a much better mood, he couldn't wait to start the season. Lucia had returned after being out with Jane to check on Link so they separated.

"Yeah, I think it's about time, don't you?" Link said, rolling it up now that the pool was exposed. Lucia peaked inside the pool for the first time since they've moved in and noticed that it was deeper than she originally imagined. Then she watched Link set aside the cover and hopped inside the empty pool with a broom and sweeper to collect dust, dead bugs, dirt, and other things that accumulated over the winter.

"Do you need help?" Lucia asked, feeling bad for having Link do all the work. Though it was nothing for him, Link had inhuman stamina.

"It's alright, Lucia. I got it." He said. Lucia sat against the edge of the pool to at least provide the hard worker with some company. Thinking about him now made her remember that Link still had not commented on his behaviour a few nights before...his eyes were dark and it made her almost scared but...more intrigued.

"Hey, Link?" Lucia bravely asked, "I'm glad to see your better, cause you were acting very strangely after Joey's wedding."

Lucia fiddled with her fingers and Link removed his hat to cool off a bit.

"Was I? I don't remember, to be honest." He said, "Actually, now that you mention it, I don't think I remember anything that happened since we left the hall."

He blinked trying to recall and failed, leaving Lucia astonished.

"Really?" She asked, "So you don't remember talking about the whole...Drew situation?"

Link twitched as a redness covered his face. He was so focused on helping Yami with his issues that he completely forgot that Duke sold him out in front of everyone. Link clenched the stick of the broom to keep himself from losing his courage.

"We...spoke about that?" He said, "I don't remember...must have been sick already."

 _That's for sure,_ Lucia thought as she blinked.

"Yeah you told me that you made him up because it was easier than being yourself," Lucia summarized, leaving the rest out, "Don't you remember?"

Link was really confused. It was true, she already knew his explanation and he couldn't even remember telling her about it at all. Did it have anything to do with the darkness.

"Sorry Lucia...I'm sure my memory loss must be due to that dark entity that the Pharaoh sensed... We don't have to have the conversation all over again except," Link paused to look at her, "Could you remind me if you forgave me for lying?"

Lucia smiled. Now this is the Link she's familiar with. "Of course I did. I was just surprised that you, of all people, would have insecurities."

Link scratched his head at the irony. "Yeah, I'm just not good at talking to girls..."

Lucia blushed. "Well Drew seemed like he knew what he was doing..." She said, "...he was also a great actor."

Link laughed. "It was tough at first but I sort of became him, I guess."

Lucia waddled her feet and Link crunched his hat. Were either of them going to bring up the Masquerade?

Link was afraid to confront the fact that he kissed Lucia.  
Lucia was afraid to confront the fact that she told Drew she was in love with him!  
Both of them feared the opinion of each other.

Then Link heard the front door. With his hearing, he could pick up the pattern of the steps and tell it was Jane.

"Jane is back," He said. Lucia turned her head around, able to see the inside of the house from the sliding doors and seeing Jane removing her shoes. Then she laughed.

"So...since you're hearing is at Hylian standards..." She started, "Don't tell Jane or the Pharaoh I asked this but...did you...hear anything last night?"

Link burst into laughs, almost missing the tray when he swept the floor of the pool. He looked at the sky quickly and then back to the pool, still grinning.

"Uh..." He said, trying to find the words, "Not really...I heard a little."

Lucia's curiosity completely took over her. She rested her head on her hands as she leaned toward the pool, giving Link her full attention.

"What did you hear?" She asked. Link sweat dropped.

"Well, I was sick so, my hearing wasn't exactly at it's best and...I spent most of the time at Ash's with Junior. But when we returned late, I thought they'd be done but...they weren't."

Lucia blushed. "Wait, you knew ahead of time what was going to happen?"

Link grunted when he accidentally said too much. He put down the broom and made sure that Jane and wasn't coming outside. He walked closer to Lucia and put his hands on her knees.

"Yes, but you can't tell anyone. The Pharaoh asked me to keep it quiet." He confessed.

Lucia covered her mouth in surprise.

"The -doing it- was pre meditated!?" She whispered. She didn't need to, but she felt the need, "Was it both of them, or?"

Link shook his head, "No, It was all the Pharaoh's idea. Jane hasn't got a clue and it's gotta stay that way." He sighed, "I can't imagine what she'd say if she knew."

Lucia calmed down a bit, "I don't think she'd be mad but...she has shown to be unpredictable with Yami so I guess it's best she doesn't know...still I am shocked. I didn't know that Yami would actually...plan something like that."

Link grinned and picked up the broom again, "Well, I mean, it's not like he'd let it happen by accident. This is the Pharaoh we're talking about. You know all his strict ideologies."

Lucia nodded. "True." She said, "Still shocking."

Link chuckled. "Well I think it's clean enough, the filter should take care of the rest." The strong Hylian lifted himself out of the pool, too close to Lucia for her comfort, but once he was on the ground again, he took a deep breath and helped Lucia up.

"How about the journal you've had your nose in for the last few days?" Link mentioned.

"Oh," Lucia smiled, "I'm writing a book."

Link blinked, "I didn't know you were so invested in writing."

"I know...I wanted to do art but I feel like Jane does enough for both of us." Lucia said. Link rolled his eyes at her insecurities.

"That's silly. There's plenty of room for two of you, Luch." Link said.

Lucia blushed hard when Link called her by a shortened version of her name. Something he's never done before, not even as Drew.

"You're right..." She said, collecting her thoughts, "But I still can't deny my love for writing too. And I really like the idea that I have now."

"What's your idea?" Link said, pulling out the hose to start filling the pool.

"Well it's just...I'm thinking of having a super hero story. My inspirations are very Sailor Moon style...Spider Man sort of thing but more playful."

Link pulled back the handle of the hose and pointed to the pool to watch it fill up. He didn't know about Sailor Moon or anything that Lucia was saying. But he was always a good listener and he wanted Lucia to see that her interests were his.

"They're going to have pieces of jewelry and little animal side kicks that assist their transformations. I have to give Joey some credit for some of these ideas." She said.

"How far along are you into the story?" Link asked.

"Still a long way, haha." She said. Though Lucia had a premise in mind, she was no where finished. After all, she just started! However, Lucia has been online now a lot lately for school, but also gathering references and to keep inspired for her story. She started a public blog and found herself a new penpal. Someone who commented frequently on her posts relating to her ideas. It wasn't worth bringing up to anyone, after all, it was just another person on the internet.

"When did you decide to start?" Link asked her. Lucia pursed her lip. She was inspired the moment she was able to tell Drew how she felt about Link. How would she tell him that?

"I sort of...decided at...a party..." Lucia struggled to say. Link blushed and just managed to hold in a nervous grunt.

"Ahem*, you mean...the Masquerade you girls went to?" He said. Lucia's heart jumped. Was this it? Were they going to talk about what she said? Was she ready? Could she take it?

"Yeah." She said, pretending to distract herself by removing her pony tail and brushing her fingers through her hair.

"...What inspired you then?" Link said, mentally telling himself to be Drew again, even though she can see through him. It would be hard, and a bit awkward...but they can't deny the fact that they both held secrets from each other that were out in the open now. Link knows that Lucia loves him, and Lucia knows that Drew, who kissed her, was Link all along. They had much to talk about, and much to discover. Did Link love Lucia? That was a strong word...but he couldn't deny that he was extremely interested in her.

"...You know." Lucia said, blushing and not wanting to say it out loud. Link's triforce glowed in his right hand, something that almost never occurred. Link couldn't tell if it was his strength fighting off the inner darkness, or if it was because he felt a sudden motivation to be courageous.

"Lucia...was it true what you told Drew that night?" He asked, putting the hose down so the pool continued to fill.

"...What are you referring to?" Lucia was shaking now as Link walked closer to her with a serious face. Standing in front of her, for the first time, he felt like he didn't need Drew to say what he needed.

"I'm referring to the part about being in love with me." Link said without a hint of fear. Lucia forced her face into her hands in embarrassment. Link smiled.

"It's alright you know. That's why I..grunt*-" Link clenched his fist, almost losing his courage but collecting himself, "That's why Drew did what he did...if you know what I mean."

Lucia blinked looking at Link in surprise. No, she didn't know what he meant. What was he trying to say? Lucia held her arms in nervousness.

"I tend to be pretty dense when people suggest things...You'll have to spell it out for me." Lucia said. Link blushed a bit.

"I just..I guess I'm wondering...now that it's out there...what is this?" Link paused, "Like what do you want from me? Us."

He said, pointing to her and then himself. Was this real life? Lucia blinked.

"What!? I don't know! I – you – what do _you_ want?" Lucia asked him instead. Link was becoming less flustered and more focused on trying to get Lucia to say it first.

"I already know what I want, I'm asking you what _you_ want." He said.

"Well, I just want what you want." Lucia said. Link grunted.

"Ok then, what do I want?" He asked. Lucia huffed, no longer shy, just frustrated.

"I don't know! You tell me." She said. Link's eyebrows hardened and then he grabbed Lucia by the shoulders, pulling her into an embrace, so swiftly it felt like slow motion when she collided into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her neck due to her short height. She froze in place, not knowing what to do as Link inhaled the scent of shampoo from her hair and grunted.

"I want you." He said against the side of her head. "Or at least to know you. I...have these feelings and...I want to know if what I want is really what I want, you know?"

Lucia did not say another word.

Link really likes Lucia, and he wants to be more than just a friend, more than just the guy living in the same house. He wants to know what it would be like to be in a relationship with Lucia...his first relationship ever. He got to know Lucia a lot as Drew but...during those moments together, she didn't know it was him behind the goggles. He _thinks_ he loves Lucia...but when he decides to tell her, he doesn't want to just think he does. He wants to know.

* * *

Later

In the living room, Jane got to the big TV to help Junior find the spare HDMI cable for his game.

"Where's Link?" Jane asked Lucia, wondering why he wasn't helping.

"He's in the back yard with Junior, gardening, I think." Lucia commented, "So, when should I expect my cash?"

Jane blinked, having forgotten. "Oh! Let me run upstairs and get my wallet."

Jane's phone vibrated as she turned around. Looking at her screen, she learned it was Yami, sending a picture of the evidently packed Museum. She smiled to herself, knowing that he sent that picture as his explanation for his absence in the house or...to put it bluntly, his reason not being with her at that very moment. She blushed when she could see part of his arm in the photo, wearing his Egyptian gold arm band and she could tell he was in character again...something she wished she could see more often. Should she ask? She would love to spend another moment with Atem as he was during his reign as Pharaoh...

"Are you going, or...?" Lucia asked when Jane was caught day dreaming. Without turning around Jane pointed up and said, "Right!" and made her way out of the lounge.

Jane jogged up the stairs with a hyperactive Luna racing her to their room. She went for her desk at first, but failed to find it. She checked her bag and also did not spot her little red wallet. The noises in the attic were also acting up, but it's become so usual now that it did not phase her. She checked the pockets of her sweaters and still found nothing. She blinked, wondering if she left it behind in the Pharaoh's room. It would not make sense though, as she only took her phone in there. None the less, she decided to check anyway.

Letting herself in his black and white themed room, she blushed at the memories.

 _I wonder if he's expecting me to stay here tonight again since Yugi doesn't come home until tomorrow morning_... She thought before mentally reminding herself to return to searching.

She looked by the night tables, in the closet, the vanity, the chair, and even under the bed. She couldn't find it anywhere. However, when she leaned down to check under the bed, she heard a strange creek under the carpet that she stood over. A hallow creak. Curiously, she pulled the carpet aside just a bit, as it was a large carpet, and found the creak to be a loose floor board. She picked at it a bit and the board came off extremely easily.

"Oops." She said, hoping it wasn't she who broke it. Looking at the damages though, she realized that she accidentally has come to discover Yugi's hiding place for the millennium items. Her jaw dropped.

"So that's where he keeps them." She said, noticing that the millennium puzzle wasn't there since Yugi had taken it with him to Domino City to go through realms. However, the rest were. The Key, the Scale, the Ring, the Eye, the Rod, the Necklace...and something else was there.

"What the heck is this thing?" She said, picking up a tiny little transparent vile with some sort of liquid on the inside. She tried to recall the Yugioh series to understand, but she just could not guess what it was.

 _BOOOM! ~_

Jane was startled, nearly dropping the bottle when she heard the loudest noise to ever emerge from her room next door. She put the vile back with the items, shut the floor board and the carpet to avoid being caught snooping and rushed out of the room. Link was also on his way up the stairs in a hurry, Jane assumed he heard it too.

"Was that the attic!?" Link said, finally hearing it for the first time. As though they read each others minds, Jane opened the door to her room and she and Link entered in a hurry. The attic door was shaking and continued to make noise. Jane stood behind Link in a self protective way.

"I know you told me not to ask you anymore..." Jane said, "But can you please check the attic again one last time?!"

"Hm." Link grunted in concern, his expression serious as he swiftly climbed into the bunk of the girls room. He cracked his knuckled and attempted to open the door. The usual way did not work however, so he pulled at the lock, trying not to break it with his immense strength.

Jane walked closer so she was by the beds and nearly underneath the door. It wasn't long before Junior and Lucia were now watching from the hall outside the room and peaking in, just as curious and confused at Jane and Link.

"What is that?" Junior said, blinking in surprise.

"What's going on?" Lucia asked, concerned.

"Alright, on three, I'm just going to break the thing." Link said, growing impatient. The girls positioned themselves to be ready to run if it was anything dangerous.

Jane nodded, wishing that the Pharaoh was hear at a time like this. She wanted nothing else.

"One, two-" And just before Link was able to pull the lock, there was a bright light and the small door had flown itself open, surprising Link to jump back when something or someone fell straight out of ceiling and landed right on top of a startled and weak Jane who hit the floor on her back from the weight of the collision. Now that all the noise had stopped, everyone turned to see what it was. Link jumped down quickly to help her if she needed it...only to learn that it was a person that had landed on her. The stranger blinked as he was just inches away from Jane. He pulled himself up, rubbed his head and observed the girl beneath him.

As awkward as things were, Jane was more concerned over who it was. Everyone was.

"S-Sora!?" Jane said in fear.

* * *

 **A/N: WWHHAAATT!? Now do I know how to write drama or do I know how to write and epic drama? So much happened! Yuu is finally outta hereeeeee...or is he? And Link and Lucia is such a hard ship, I can't even. JANE FOUND Rumple's vile, which means she's been cursed now! What will that involve?! Something is gunna happen thats not good i mean, WHAT is SORA doing there!? So many questionsssss! Keep reading!**


	18. Vol 3 Ch 2: Sora

" _There was a strange little vile I didn't know he had."  
_

* * *

 _ **Savannah Georgia ~**  
_ _  
Volume 3 – Chapter 2:_ _"_ _Sora_ _"_

 _Evening_  
 _The backyard_  
 _Jane's_ _P.O.V_

Today was an eventful one. I slammed Link's boots together outside, trying to get as much dust off of them as I could, thinking it was the least I could do to help him since he repaired the attic door all by himself today. Luna watched me from the window, desperate for me to go back inside to put her to sleep but I took my time anyway, recalling all that happened this morning. I was alone on the grass, listening to the movements of everyone inside accommodating our newest guest, Sora.

Now, if you know me, you'll probably be screaming at me to stay away from him because, after all, Sora was on my fictional Haram fan girl list for years alongside Yami and others. But, I'm not worried. For some reason, whatever that is, I'm not attracted to Sora anymore...or at least not enough that it will affect my relationship with Yami in any way. It's almost as though something in my heart has changed, and I can only love Yami. In fact, ever since this morning, the thought of Yuu hasn't made me feel sad or want to break down. It's like my heart has reset itself and I can't imagine why. Was it because I've finally committed to the Pharaoh?

Everyone else, including Yugi, were inside entertaining Sora and making sense of what's going on. After he had crashed through the attic suddenly, he was quickly looking for his friends and asking where he was. Link was able to talk to Sora calmly and called the Pharaoh who rushed home. We soon learned that Sora was the cause of all the noise...that he was the one trying to come to this world but was having little hope due to lack of magic and that something on this end must have gave him the extra push that he needed.

 _I groaned_. I decided to return inside, dropped the boots by the door and snuck my way upstairs and away from the living room where the others conversed. Just as I was about to enter my room, I was stopped. I turned around and by no surprise, it was Yami.

"Hey," I smiled. It didn't take someone as smart as Yami to tell that I was running away from our new guest.

"You took quite long to dust off Link's boots," He said, keeping his hands in his pockets. I sighed, looking at the abandoned door knob in front of me.

"Yeah, maybe I went out there for more than just the shoes," I said. Yami began a strut into his room and I assumed he wanted to be followed, so I did. It wasn't like I had anything to do up here, I was just avoiding Sora.

"What's wrong?" He asked, turning the light on and removing his arm bands.

"Well, to be honest...I really don't want Sora here." I said, taking a seat on his bed with a bounce. Yami blinked in surprise.

"Is that so? Lucia informed me that Sora has a similar role in this world. I would assume you'd be as interested as she." He said. _I huffed_.

"Well sure, of course I'd love to get to know Sora. But his timing sucks." I complained, "Things just started to get good around here again, and when Sora travels realms, it's usually because there's trouble he has to take care of. I don't want to have the stress of worry so soon."

Yami took a seat next to me. But he didn't bounce.

"I see why you've come to that understanding, however I don't think there's anything to worry about." He said, "I have not sensed anything dangerous in this world and, as a result, Sora will not be staying long. Things will return to normal."

"But what if something does happen?" I asked. Yami remembered meeting with Gold but didn't want to burden Jane with what was likely a harmless encounter.

"Then Link and I will sort it out." He said.

"And what are the chances of you two needing to get involved?" I asked. Yami sighed.

"Extremely low," He insisted, "Sora explained that if there isn't a reason for him to stay, he would be moving on to other realms. I promise he will be gone by the end of the week."

"You're that confident?" I blinked.

"Of course." He said. The Pharaoh wasn't sure what triggered Sora to come through, but he was betting that it was Link's darkness having been born recently which would mean there was nothing to worry about. Yami and Link were both making sure it remains under control and when Sora learns that his assistance is not needed, he will leave.

I sighed. "Alright...you know I sort of miss how things used to be sometimes."

"Hm?" Yami looked at me to clarify.

"Before we moved to Savannah Georgia. When things were simple." I said.

"I don't. I would never return to that in a million years." He said. That suprised me. We have memories before Savannah Georgia.

"Why not?"

"Because I wasn't yours." He said...and it made me overwhelmed with feelings.

He paused, looking around the room as if he was thinking of something. He smiled and rubbed my hand. "Would you like to bathe with me?"

I blinked wide eyed. That was sudden.

"Right now?" I asked.

"Mhm."

Boy, Yami sure knew how to get my mind off of something. And what a change in direction. To bathe with him? I guess after recent events, it wouldn't make sense to say no...who am I kidding. I don't want to say no.

"Sure." I blushed. He kissed my forhead.

"I'll get the water running." He said, turning his back to me and walking to his bathroom, removing his shirt on the way. Oh boy...despite having gone all the way with the Pharoah, this still gives me immense nerves for some reason. But, this will be good for us, I mean, the first real moment together without thoughts of leaving, or Yuu or anything. I blushed but smiled with happiness as I, too, removed my top.

See, I already forgotten all about Sora.

* * *

 **Downstairs**  
 _Lucia, Link, Junior, Yugi and Sora  
Narrator's P.O.V_

"So, that big key let's you travel to and from realms?" Link asked, observing Sora's blade when he caused it to appear. The boys were on the couch, talking about their realms and learning from each other, Junior on the ground and Yugi across from the couch where Link and Sora sat. As for Lucia, she watched from the kitchen, as she washed the dishes with a blank expression.

Sora. _Sora_ was in their house. Sora was _talking to Link_ in their house. Sora from freakin' kingdom hearts is talking to Link from the legend of zelda. So why wasn't she as excited as Yugi to ask questions? Because her last talk with Link was so emotional that she didn't know how to act around him.

"Yeah, it's a complicated thing to explain, but that's the jiss of it." Sora nodded. "It also let's me lock realms to avoid complications and people getting too involved in other worlds that they shouldn't be."

Yugi scratched his chin, "I guess we fall under that category, huh? Are we the reason you've been sent here, Sora?"

"Well, actually no," Sora stated, "You guys are intruding here, but you're laying low and not causing any abrupt changes that could harm the world so you're not really a threat. The real reason I was sent here was to clear this world of a darkness we picked up and eventually lock the world from future intrusions."

"Lock it? Does that mean we wouldn't be able to travel to and from this world anymore?" Link asked, concerned. Sora shrugged.

"That really all depends on how dangerous the threat is and what this world has to offer them." He explained.

"Well it can't be too serious," Yugi said, "If it was, Link or the Pharoah would have definitly picked up on it. After all, they are the only source of magic in this entire universe."

"Well, if they're not, then it would only mean there is another source of magic somewhere close by because this is the area that we got the strongest reading of magic and darkness in this entire realm." Sora added.

"How big of an area are we talking about here?" Link asked.

"Savannah Georgia." Sora clarified. After a pause, Yugi sighed.

"I really picked a bad time to go on a retreat..." He said. Link grunted.

"No you didn't. Go to your tournament, Yugi. There is no danger here." He said. Sora raised an eye brow.

"How can you be so sure?" Sora asked, "Everywhere I have been sent to has always faced some kind of-"

"I understand you have quite the occupation, Sora. But even if there is something dangerous here, don't underestimate what the Pharaoh and I are capable of." Link explained. "There's a reason why we came here and that is for the simple fact that we are too powerful for realms with magic. When there is light magic as intense as ours, the universe naturally creates a darkness to compete with it. It's just the laws of balance. With that much darkness brought a lot of suffering, so we are better off here. But before a darkness can even compete, there would have to be magic here and there isn't."

"That's where you're wrong, Link." Sora said, surprising Yugi and Link. Lucia also put her dishes down and joined them, completely forgetting about her awkward situation with Link and completely invested in the conversation.

"How's he wrong?" She asked in unision with Junior.

"You and the Pharaoh have brought magic here. There may have not been magic before, but the fact that you're even able to return home now and again just proves that it's here now. It wasn't as big of a problem before, in fact, I wasn't even able to come here with the tiny amount of magic you guys were using. But something changed. One of you must have used magic strong enough to let me in...or someone else has grown dark enough that it needs an outsider like me to stop it." Sora said as he rubbed the handle of his keyblade, "Either way, it's going against what's meant to be and my job is to return things to normal."

"I don't think Link or the Pharaoh has ever used magic for anything aside from going to and from realms when they revisit loved ones." Lucia said, conveniently leaving out her memories of Link acting out viciously at the wedding. Was he the source of the darkness that brought Sora?

"Well I hope they did and just can't recall, because that's much easier to correct than a darkness on the rise." Sora added.

"I am sure we'll get to the bottom of this quickly and you can be on your way, Sora." Link said. He didn't have anything against Sora, but his reason for being around was not that most comfortable. Having someone poking around their business wasn't the most appealing for a Hylian with secrets.

"So..." Sora whispered with a hand over the side of his face to keep Lucia from read his lips, "Who's the cute girl that's avoiding us?"

Link blushed with a grunt and Yugi raised a brow.

"Which one?"

Lucia rolled her eyes, being treated like she wasn't there.

"The one with the long hair. What's her story?" Sora asked with a smile. Yugi sweat-dropped.

"Oh...Jane? She's the Pharoah's girlfriend." He said. Sora's smile dissapeared.

"Woah, really?" He said in suprised, "I didn't know he had a girlfriend. I mean, when he introduced himself, he had a lot to say about where he's from and all but I didn't get any sign that he's a man in love."

Link laughed, "Yeah, the Pharoah is a very mysterious person and Jane is no less so."

"Is that why she's avoiding us?" Sora asked, "Since I fell on her, she's ignored me all together. Did I offend her or something?"

Lucia hummed, "Actually, Jane is being very out of character tonight. I'm not sure why she isn't interacting more considering she's such a big fan of yours."

Sora's eyes widened. "She's a fan of mine?"

Link raised a brow and crossed his arms, "Why the interest?"

Sora scratched the back of his head in embaressment, "Haha, she's just pretty and I was curious."

"She is..." Yugi said, "And I'm sure you'll have a chance to talk to her tomorrow. I'll guess that she's just getting over some recent events, and once it's passed, she'll be harassing you with questions."

Sora smiled. He was glad, because he still had many questions of his own, especially for her. He didn't just fall on her through the attic, he was drawn to her...by magic. And it seemed that from the stories of her friends, none of them were aware at all that she was emitting some. He wondered if it was a secret and best to ask her personally.

"Speaking of Jane, do you have any idea why she was the only one who could pick up the noises at first?" Lucia asked.

Sora put a finger to his chin to think. "I'm not sure. Is she more experienced with magic?"

"Jane can't use magic," Junior blinked.

"Well, if she's in contact with it a lot, she could still adapt to it." Sora added. Lucia blushed.

"Well she's known Yami and Link for a really long time. And she spends a lot of time with the Pharaoh, does that count?" She asked.

"That doesn't make sense, why haven't I heard it then?" Link raised a brow and Lucia sighed in frustration.

"That's true." She added.

"Unless an outsider manipulated the situation," Sora added, "If not you guys, someone else with magic could have helped me through and set things up so only Jane could hear me coming. I can't imagine why, but it's possible."

"There's no way," Link grunted, "We would have known if there was someone else with magic!"

Sora blew his hair aside, sensing everyone becoming frustrated at this mystery. "Then I guess we'll figure this out with time."

"Where is Jane anyway?" Junior asked.

"Probably upstairs, giving the Pharaoh a hard time." Link said.

* * *

 **Upstairs  
** _Meanwhile..._

The Pharaoh had Jane practically pinned against the edge of the cask as the two vigorously kissed each other. The hot water refusing to cool down as they kept it heated. Part of Jane knew that things would inevitably lead to this but she was some how still surprised how little time it took for the two of them to go from bathing to behaving on coition. The question was, how far was it going this time? The Pharaoh was extremely old fashioned. What if last time was a desperate freak accident?

When it got too hot, even for the King, he chuckled with their foreheads touching and he pulled back.

"Perhaps we should cool down, hm?" He said, turning around and sliding to the tap.. Jane smiled, following behind and staying almost entirely under water unlike him. Yami turned the tap to let some fresh water in the tub, splashing his face with a hand full.

"I kinda like the super hot water." She said. Yami noticed the large mirror and all glass elements in the room to be completely fogged up and his vision blurred a few meters away due to the steam.

"You're going to cook us in here," He said while still letting the cold water run to bring the temperature down. He brought some in his hand and poured it on Jane's neck and she twitched from it.

"That sorta tickles," She said. Yami grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the water so that only her bottom half was under just as he was. He was excellent at hiding it, but the entire thing for him was extremely erotic. Jane kept close to him, more so to keep herself concealed than anything and the Pharaoh put more cold water on her, this time so it slid down her back. It gave her a shiver, almost making her need his touch now as if to correct this discomfort of the chill that didn't match the rest of her. Like he read her mind, his hand caressed her skin where the water disturbed her.

"Isn't that better?" He asked her, playing ignorance to his true intent. They were close to the tap and he could feel the boiling water cooling off by his waist and the sensation of it stimulated his body. She could feel his attachment behaving eagerly against her.

"Is this going to be a repeat of the other night?" Jane blushed, at this point OK with it, just feeling strange that they had a guest downstairs. Yami kissed her neck and went on.

"Not a repeat," he said, "Because unlike the other night, there's no reason for you to resist me."

Jane lightly laughed, helping things along by touching him there first.

"We have company downstairs," She said, "That's a reason."

Yami slightly moaned just because she touched him first. He wasn't expecting her to.

"That's not a reason." He said, kissing her and pulling her closer. "Unless the house is on fire, there's nothing that can pull me away from this."

Jane smiled as he kissed and pressed her against the edge, propping her to sit on it and positioning her for the worst. He looked into her eyes. "Maybe not even that." He added.

Both blushing.

"I kinda feel on fire now," Jane said now in a breathy voice, losing control of herself, "I don't think the cold water is enough."

Yami cupped her face. "Let us put it out then."

* * *

 **In the hall upstairs  
** _2 hours later_

"Are you absolutely sure that there is nothing dangerous going on here?" Sora asked as Link guided him to their guest room.

"The Pharaoh and I have everything under control around here, believe me." He said, "Nothing gets passed us."

"Are you sure?" He said, "You haven't been experimenting anything...dark lately?"

Link grunted. Dark..? "Is that why you're here, Sora?"

"Yeah." He said, "My keyblade detects it here. If something hasn't happened yet...it will."

Link and Sora exchanged glances for a while.

"Thanks for the warning." Link said, "Goodnight."

When Sora was alone, he stripped down to his boxer shorts and had a look around the room, familiarizing himself with it. He brushed his brown hair, thinking of home and wondering how long his trip would be this time. It seemed that everyone in this house was completely uninvolved with any kind of darkness or magic. They only seem to explain that they're from realms with magic, but that's about all. Either they're all oblivious to a threat, or they are the threat. If they were neither, could some of them have witnessed danger but have been keeping it a secret from each other? Is that why Jane was, according to Lucia, behaving strangely? Is it the Pharaoh who's witnessed danger? Link? Something was going on here...and Sora was determined to know.

In a mean time, Sora decided to choose one of the four bunks at random, laying on his hands and hoping that these people were not his enemies. Lucia, Junior and Yugi seem like wonderful people but...the other three, Link, Jane and the Pharaoh...they all look like they have secrets.

* * *

"So where's Yugi?" Lucia asked as she said good night to Link in the hall.

"He's gone back to Domino." He said, removing his belt and preparing for sleep. Lucia pretended it didn't make her stutter.

"And Jane and Yami?" She asked. Link blushed.

"I don't want to know." He said. Lucia blushed.

"Can't your hearing pick them up?" She asked innocently. Link shook his head.

"Nope. That's why I don't want to know." He added. Lucia sweat-dropped, recalling the washrooms being sound proof and then laughed.

"Right. I guess Jane wont be coming to bed tonight then..." She said, "Well at least there's peace now, huh? Things have been intense ever since..."

Lucia paused blushing, remembering the wedding, Drew and their conversation recently.

"...ever since?" Link pushed. Lucia frowned.

"..The wedding." After a pause, Link clenched his belt.

"Yeah...things are ok with you though, right?" Link asked.

"Sure," She said, "I'm more concerned about you and those migraines of yours."

Link moved his head to flip is bangs away from his eyes. "Yeah they come and go, I guess..."

"Let me know when it hits you again I'll...do whatever I can to help." Lucia said.

"Thanks Luch, that would help since I have little memory of the last one..." Link said.

"Of course," She smiled, "And...maybe we should...continue those lessons with Drew."

Link grunted surprised, "..Really?"

"...Sure. You know, since...you want to know what you want." She referenced to their last conversation.

Link smiled and reached for her hand, "Yeah...I guess Drew did have the best progress with that..."

"Big bro?" Junior called from behind them. Link stepped away form Lucia and turned around to see his little brother rubbing his eye with Gumball next to him.

"Junior," Link said, "What are you doing up?"

"You took too long to come to sleep. You know I can't sleep without you." He said.

Lucia smiled. "You want to stay with me tonight, Junior? Jane isn't around and I'm lonely too."

Link blinked and Junior yawned and muttered, "Dee used to do that..."

Link twitched. _Oh yes...that one is still in contact with, his almost friend, Duke Devlin._ He grunted.

"I'm coming, Junior, just go to bed." Link said. Junior wobbled back inside and Link turned back to Lucia.

"Sorry..." He said, "But riding sounds like fun. It'll be nice to ride without those goggles in the way."

"I kinda liked the googles." Lucia complimented. "But I like your face better."

"Heh," Link chuckled, "Thanks. I like your face too."

She smiled. "Good night, Link."

Link nodded. With Lucia gone, he entered his room, blaming himself. Was he the source of Sora's appearance? The darkness in him has spread so...is the timing a coincidence? Link got a shred of guilt wash over him. He was afraid to come out with it because he didn't want Sora to do anything that would pull Link away from his friends. Whatever it was, he didn't need a strangers help to cope with his personal problems. And the more he thinks about why this darkness has been spreading, the worse it gets.

* * *

Jane breathed heavily as the water was draining in the giant tub. What a rush it was to have been with the Pharaoh this way. She loved it.

"Heh heh..." Jane chuckled as their breathing slowed but Yami ignored it and continued to fondle her chest with his right hand for the last remaining moments of their time.

"Atem," Jane said when her laugh wasn't enough. Yami kissed her neck.

"Mm?" He said without pulling away.

"We spent 2 hours in here." She said, looking at the antique clock on the wall now that the fog settled and it was visible. "2 hours."

He chuckled as well, "You say that like it's a bad thing."

The Pharaoh kissed her strongly one last time before standing up and leaving her in there. It was slow motion watching his back emerge from the water until all of him was exposed. He went into the closet of the washroom to get a robe and wrapped himself in it. Jane starred with hard eyes as it was strangely a different feeling watching his full body in a short distance as opposed to parts of it at a time during an intimate moment. It was different but it was still wonderful.

"It's not bad, It's just..." Jane blushed, taking a towel from Yami.

"Just what?" He asked, opening the door to his room, airing out the area.

"Never mind." She said, "Maybe I'm just not used to spending so much time with you in...this way when it was just a few days ago that we weren't speaking."

"All the more reason to make up for lost time." He said, kissing her forehead and ensuring the towel was well in place around her body. "Will you be staying with me tonight?"

"What about Yugi?" Jane blinked. Following the king into the bedroom.

"He has gone back to Domino for the preliminaries at Kaiba's Duel Monsters Tour." He said. Jane looked up, just remembering.

"Oh yeah." She said, "Well I'd love to stay but...I don't know if I can um...keep going."

Yami laughed, "Ah, don't worry," he said, "If you'd prefer to go straight to sleep tonight, the choice is yours."

Jane giggled, "well in that case, I'll be right back!" She said, jogging out to change in her room and the Pharaoh watched her leave with a smile. When she arrived to her room, she blushed to find Lucia in her bed so early, looking back at Jane who was just in a towel and her damp hair all...sexy. Lucia blushed back.

"So...you and Yami had fun today?" She asked. Jane walked to the closet and let herself in to change where Lucia could not see her.

"I just took a bath..." She said.

"In Yami's washroom?" Lucia added, "With Yami IN the water with you?"

"You're usually very dense with these things Luch. Go back to that, please." Jane said and Lucia laughed.

"You guys can't leave each other alone, can you?" She asked. Jane came out in her Pjs...her sexier pair.

"He's just so..." Jane started, "I mean, I've been holding it in for so long-"

"Spare the details." Lucia said, "But from the looks of your get up, you're not staying here tonight are you?"

Jane's jaw dropped. "I am not wearing a _get u_ p...but no I'm not."

Lucia laughed, feeling good to be the one to tease Jane for once. Jane stuck her tongue out before leaving to join the king in his room. And now that she returned to find him comfortable in his bed, reading a book and looking great, she would be ok with it if he wanted to get back to it with her again. How bizarre that her mind changes so quickly with these things.

* * *

 **Middle of the Night**

Everyone was fast asleep and recovering from a hard week except for Link, who could not get himself to rest. His vision was tinting red and he was holding back all groans to avoid waking anyone up. It wasn't as painful as the last time, but he could feel the darkness taking over. But why? What set it off this time? Maybe he should ask Lucia for help. She had a strange ability to calm his episodes whenever they appeared. Link sat up on the bottom bunk.

But before he knew it, his consciousness had been put aside for this...other Link. This dark entity...creature...or something. And the first thing this being decided to do was act on Link's last thoughts. Go see Lucia.

Lucia slowly started rolling over from one side of the bed so she now faced the back wall, the light blue sheets twisted with her. Her face buried in the vertical second pillow that had been unknowingly pushed in the corner of the bed, the coolness of the unused pillow caused a sigh. Usually a very deep sleeper once actually asleep, the brunette twitched as she felt a tickling sensation at the back of the neck. Pulled out of her dreams from it, thinking it was simply the sheets that were tangled around her body, she shifted a bit only to suddenly feel the grasp around her waist that she knew wasn't suppose to be there.

"Wha?!" She gasped as her eyes shot open in the darkness, wide awake now she was most definitely not imagining it. Her thoughts ran rampant at the thoughts of who or what had encircled around her waist, the warm sensation confirmed that it was a living, breathing being…

Lucia squirmed in it's strong hold, alerting the other individual that she was now awake. It's grasp on her tightened as she felt the warm breath that followed a low, chuckle, making her realize how close the owner of this voice really was.

"Relax…It's just me." Her eyes widen as she recognized the hushed voice, unmistakably. After having heard it through more then one identity, she's mastered the sound of it.

"L-link…?" She murmured, it was without a doubt him, however she could feel something…different from his voice, somewhat darker? Confident? She's heard it before…like Drew but darker. She felt a blush creep across her face, she could feel his body press against her back as he pulled her even closer. She could almost feel the smirk that formed on his lips as he hummed just inches from her ear making her shutter.

"W-what are you doing h-here?" She stuttered, this was certainly something she wasn't used to as well as very strange and forward of the Hylian to do. After minutes of silence he finally spoke with a sigh while his fingers brush away at her unbound hair.

"You told me to come to you if I needed help." He said, "Well here I am."

Lucia blushed. "What can I help you with?"

"I've been thinking about You...and Diana...and Duke...All of it it made me feel...abandoned. I need comfort…" He muttered, his face in her hair as he spoke. His sad tone, made her feel a stab of pain and guilt for him, she bit her lip knowing she wouldn't have the heart of push him away.

"B-but why at this time? Is it another migraine? It couldn't wait till morning..?" The blush spreading like wildfire on her face with the hug. She was so glad she was still facing the wall so he couldn't see it.

"No." His immediate response, almost sounding like a growl. "I need you now, is that a problem?"

If Link wasn't saying these words right here, right now, she may have not thought that he would ever say something like this, most of all to her since she was one of the newer additions to the family. Hesitant at first, he couldn't contain his grin as his eyes watched her slowly shake her head to confirm.

"Good." His voice was so close.

 _This is his darkness again. But, what sparked it this time?'_ She thought trying to peek a glimpse at him, her heart rapidly beating within her chest.

"Why don't you turn around?" He said in his usual scratchy voice. She didn't know how to respond, so Link's impatience brought his strength to turn her around himself with one arm.

"Ah," Lucia blinked, slowly focusing her vision, she caught a glimpse at the hero's face and noticing that, instead of the normal beautiful blue eyes, they were a florescent crimson while his lips in a toothy almost maniac like grin.

"What are you waiting for?" Link asked, "Aren't you going to try and contain me like usual to protect me?"

Lucia hesitated but put her hand on his face like she did at the wedding. Link smirked.

"Oh that wont work this time. I'm already out, Lucia. You're going to have to try harder than that."

Lucia frowned, worrying about Link.

"What can I do?" She whispered. Link crept closer.

"How about something a little more...dramatic?" He asked and Lucia tucked her head back in ensnarement of their closeness.

"...like what?" She asked as Link's thumb touched her lips.

"I already told you I want you," He reminded, "So let me have you."

Lucia's eyes widened as that could mean anything. Before she could respond, the Hylian had her locked in place, her back flat on the bed with him laying next to her side, leaning over and smack...planted a juicy one right on her. At first she was surprised, but then she became curious...this kiss was much harsher then when Drew kissed her. This one was...dark.

It wasn't just a kiss either. Link held Lucia's face with his left hand, pressuring her jaw to loosen and let him get messier with her. His pace was so quick, she worried he'd pick up on 3rd base real fast. She panicked and tried to get him off, but he was too strong.

"What's wrong?" He asked when he let her go. He wiped her mouth for her with his glove. She was interested and scared at the same time. This was an area she lacked experience in, but Link could knock her unconscious if he wanted with the way he advanced on her...but she would have preferred if it was the real Link acting on this.

"I don't..." She tried to find the words, "...something about this is wrong."

Link's red eyes faded blue for just a second. Lucia blinked and put her hands on his face again, hoping to call his back his consciousness.

"Link?" She said, "Is that you in there?"

Link shook his head, his eyes redder then before.

"It's always been me!" He said with a growl.

"Ack!" All of a sudden a sharp pain jolted through her as she felt the pain coming from a part of her neck. Her brown eyes widened in shock as she tried to look at the warrior in the eyes. It was impossible from the angle and before she tried to stop him, he pulled away to whisper into her ear.

"You should try to be more quiet, you wouldn't want anyone to wake up…" He said.

"W-what are doing?!" She said, trying to be as quiet as she could while referring to the bite. His chuckle made a shiver run up her spine as she felt him nip at her once again, almost causing her to squeal as her face was as red as a tomato.

"Oh, just marking you…" He breathed out as it was the most casual thing to say, his warm breath fanning her sensitive skin.

"M-marking…me? What are you saying?! S…Stop." Oddly enough the young girl couldn't help but feel so tired despite what he was doing, their conversation had only furthered to exhaust her to the point where she could barely keep her eyes open. Her occasional squirming from her embarrassment didn't help as it only added to her draining energy. When he pulled back again, he smiled while she was starring into the red eyes of the creature.

"That'll do." He said. Lucia touched the ache in her neck and felt a warm moisture that she assumed was her own blood mixed with the elfs saliva. Was he crazy?

"Is this what you came here to do?" She asked him. "Hurt me?"

The creature frowned. "Is that what you think this is?" His eyes flickered blue again. "This is a bonding ritual, Lucia. Here,"

Link positioned himself so that he was on top of her now, pressing his body against her and presenting his neck to her.

"Go ahead." He said.

Lucia blinked. "I- what's the point of this?"

"You said you were in love with me." He reminded and she stuttered, "So do it."

"I-I can't, I-" Lucia couldn't bring herself to do something so primitive, it was strange. Then Lucia's phone vibrated on her bed side. Link pulled back to look a the glow from her phone in the dark and reached out. Looking at the screen it was a text message:

 _Brainstorm. It can take place in Paris. That's a city I don't think has been done.  
Report back. - Nathanial_

Link smiled. "Who's this?"

Lucia tried to retrieve her phone. "My penpal, he's helping my write my book."

Link put the phone down. " _Brainstorm._ Here's a story, " he said, "Once Upon a Time, Link marked Lucia and she submitted to him for the rest of her life, the end. How's that?"

"Submit!?" Lucia said, louder than usual.

"Submit." He said as a fact and kissed her again...roughly, passionately. Lucia could barely keep up or avoid it. She also couldn't deny her arousel from Link's sudden dominance...then he stopped, looking to the side appearing as though he was listening to something.

"..." he breathed, leaving a red, hot Lucia beneath him. "...our guest is waking up," He said, pushing his weight off the bed and standing up, facing the door away from Lucia, continuing to listen. Lucia set up, feeling dizzy. She almost let herself get lost for a minute there...

"...Link?" She said. He turned around to look back at her, sitting on the bed with her shirt and shorts, messy hair and glowing cheeks of seduction. He smiled and walked back to her, kissing her once more.

"To be continued, gorgeous," He said, sneaking out of her room. When he was out, Lucia jogged to her door and watched him walking through the hall and heading downstairs. She wanted to follow him, but maybe it was best to stay away... she wondered if Link would forget all of this in the morning.

* * *

 **Following Morning**

A knock on the door.  
Sora blinked, surprised anyone would be asking to see him this early. He rubbed his eye and put a shirt on so he was less exposed and opened the door to let them in.

"Jane?" He said. It was Jane. She stood there with a greeting smile, still in her Pj's and appearing as though she had the most wonderful rest.

"Hi, Sora." She said.

"Hey," He answered, confused.

"I'm sorry about the way I behaved yesterday." She said. "I hope I didn't offend you."

Sora blinked, "I thought _I_ offended _you_ for falling on you so hard."

Jane laughed, "I would lie if I said it didn't hurt my back a bit but, no. It's just, I had some things going on yesterday, so it really was just bad timing. I wasn't my usual self."

"Oh," He put his hands behind his head, the usual Sora quirk. "What was going on that made you so uncomfortable?"

Jane didn't feel weird opening up to Sora because, after all, he wasn't really a stranger on technical terms. "The Pharaoh and I are just recovering from a really awful conflict so you sort of arrived during the days of making up, haha." She paused, "So I wasn't really in the mood for pleasantries, ya know?"

"So you and the Pharaoh...?" He asked awkwardly. Jane nodded.

"Mhm." She said.

"Funny." He said, "First relationship I've ever seen that's cross dimensional."

Jane looked to her upper right without words to express herself.

Sora nodded. "So, since you're more willing to talk now, can I ask you something?"

Jane blinked. "Sure?"

"Do you have any idea why I'm here? Have you seen anything dangerous or dark?" He asked. Jane looked to the side, thinking.

"...No." She said, "Really, I haven't. I mean, the most I can think of is the Pharaoh's millennium ring with Bakura's soul in it. But he's had that under control for years now and I can't imagine what you can do to improve the situation any further. Aside from that, I've got nothing."

Sora crossed his arms in thought, "Well...I should stick around for a little while just in case. Would that be ok?"

"Yeah, I don't think Atem would mind." She said. Sora smiled with his teeth.

"So, I heard you're a big fan of mine." He said. Jane put her arms behind her body.

"Huge," She said, "I'm also jealous of what you do. I'd love to ride a magic carpet...or swim in Atlantica..."

"You can still do those things," Sora said with a nod, "I can take you."

Jane blinked, "That easy?"

"Sure, I visit friends there anyway with the keyblade, no sweat." Sora said.

Pharoah's Room

Yami buckled his belt as he finished getting dressed, tidying his room before heading down for breakfast. He smiled at Jane's bra on the floor and leaned over to pick it up for her when his kneel caused the floor board to creak. The usual creak of the board were Yugi hid the millennium items.

* * *

 _Sora and Jane_

"I don't know.. isn't it dangerous? I mean, I'm not a keyblade master. I could never defend myself." Jane said.

"I'll protect you! Plus, I'll only take you to worlds that's been cleared of darkness, so you're safe."

* * *

 _Pharaoh's Room_

The Pharaoh put the bra on the bed and kneeled. He lifted the carpet to revisit the storage area and noticed that the board has been poorly placed. It was unusual for Yugi to be careless and he was sure that the last person to get in here was himself when he hid Rumpelstiltskin's vile. Yami removed the board to ensure that it was his mistake and...what he saw was one of the most disturbing things he had ever seen. The bottle was sitting on top of the items...that was not where he left it. He distinctively remembered tucking it under the items intentionally. What was it doing on the top?

* * *

 _Sora and Jane_

"How many people can you take?" Jane asked curiously.

"Anyone can come. We just can't be too long because there's a darkness in this world that I have to be around for to settle."

* * *

 _Pharaoh's_ _Room_

Then the Pharaoh's arms and legs began to shake. His insides feeling like he was going to be sick. His breathing became unsteady. Someone had found the potion...the potion that was meant for Jane. And if a sudden cause of magic let Sora through this world...it would have to be powerful. Link's darkness wasn't responsible for drawing Sora here, it was Jane. Jane's contact with the vile gave Sora the edge he needed to come into this realm with such little magic. How could he not have seen this?! Had his third eye weakened this much?!

The Pharaoh slammed the floor with his fist, infuriated with himself. WHY did he have to see the Dark One? Why? Was he going to pay for this for the rest of his life?

* * *

 _Sora and Jane_

"The Pharaoh would never be ok with it though. World hopping of any kind...he made it clear to me it's not something he's comfortable with me getting into." Jane said.

Sora blinked, "...why not?"

* * *

 _Pharaoh's Room_

No. Everything would be fine as long as Jane did not cross realms or get too involved. Which means Sora was a man that Yami did not want Jane to have too much contact with. And if Sora is sensing darkness, it must be Rumpelstiltskin. Yami arched his eye brows.  
And if that's the case, he has to stop Sora from learning too much so that no one finds out about the deal he made. No one, especially Jane. But the worst of all...if Jane found the potion...then that means...

* * *

 _Sora and Jane_

Jane sighed, "Why?...I don't know..."

* * *

 _Pharaoh's_ _Room_

She was cursed, and she didn't even know it.

* * *

 **A/N: BUM DA DAH DUM! I didn't know how to write that ending properly but I think i pulled it off. Anyhooo ~ This is a pretty sexy chapter fiiillled with foreshadowing. I mean Jane's heart is cursed now, Link is all creepin' up, and Sora is getting involved. What will Yami do to keep his secret? How will he stop Sora from finding Rumple? Alll gettin JUICayyyyy! Thanks for reading!**


	19. Vol 3 Ch 3: Love is Weakness

" _There's a darkness around, and he had to know what it was."  
_

* * *

 _ **Savannah Georgia ~ ForWARd**_ _  
 **Volume 3 – Chapter 3:**_ _ **Love is Weakness**  
Master Suit Bathroom  
Lucia and Yami  
Narrator's_ _P.O.V_

"Thanks for keeping things subtle, Yami." Lucia said to the Pharaoh who treated her wounds at her neck in his washroom, secretly from anyone else at Lucia's request.

"Now that we are alone, are you ready to tell me how you got so many bruises?" He asked, disinfecting some of them that had pulled the skin back and created damaging blisters. Lucia winced at the alcohol entering her body.

"It was Link." She said, and the Pharaoh blinked, surprised that he was...surprised. He half expected Lucia to reveal she accidentally hurt herself some how and was embarrassed. But Link did this to her?

"My..." He said, half distracted. "And...why did he do this?"

"He came to my room last night...when Jane stayed with you." Lucia paused as that second half of her statement, blushing. The idea of Jane and the Pharaoh gave her goose bumps...because Lucia always had a hidden crush on the king of games herself and watching their relationship become what it's becoming feels as though she's watching a spin off that she only wished for before meeting him. As he treated her bruises, she was kind of envious of what Jane had with him.

"Lucia?" Yami asked and Lucia snapped out of it.

"Sorry, will you be able to cover them up?" She asked Yami when he was sealing the disinfectant.

"Yes." He said, grabbing his concealer.

"Anyway... he was," Lucia remembered, "...remember how he was when we brought him home from the wedding?"

"Mhm."

"He was like that...but worse. I'm worried, Yami. His eyes were as red as can be, and his face looked cold. He forced me to lay there with him and he was grabbing me really hard and he..." She blushed.

Yami's third eye chimed and though it was weaker than usual due to his deal, he could still sense Lucia's feeling of shame.

"Did he force you to get intimate with him?" He asked, rubbing the makeup on her neck.

"...not really. He was aggressive and he didn't ask for much but... I could have called for help or done more to push him away." Lucia blushed again, "But I didn't want to hurt his feelings or embarrass him in front of anyone. It's Link we're talking about, I care for him, you know? That's why I didn't tell anyone about it."

"I understand." Yami said, "But if your life is in danger, we must put your safety before anything."

"That's just it, I don't think he meant to put me in danger. He just wanted me to...well you know."

Lucia blinked, blushing burning her cheeks as the Pharaoh remained cool as usual.

"When was it that he put these marks on you?" Yami asked. Lucia covered her face at the term...marks.

"I made him angry so his grip became really tight and then he started biting." Lucia said, taking fault for something out of her control...as usual. "He saw me this morning and didn't even remember giving them to me."

"Don't take responsibility for his behavior, Lucia." He said, "I think we should take precautions from this point on. You're fine today, but next time he could pull your muscle, crack your bones, or worse."

"I don't think it'll come to that. He was calmer when he was quiet, I think I just need to be careful-"

"No. When Link is in his darkened state, his behaviors is unpredictable. You cannot count on him to remain calm when he loses control over his own consciousness, that is completely out of the question." Yami said as an order. His concealer was deeper than Lucia's skin tone, so he began to blend it over the entire surface area of where the injuries were. "Just to be safe, I'll avoid inviting Jane to stay with me after hours so that you are not alone."

"...Doesn't that put her under the same risks?" Lucia questioned. Yami kept his eyes on her skin.

"I can't say it grants me comfort, but danger is less likely to occur when there is more than one present." He explaines. "I just want to make sure you're safe."

"Thanks Yami." Lucia said.

"After all, I have some things on my mind and...Jane is a great distraction. Had she not been with me, I would probably have sensed his darkness in your room and I failed to do so." He added, finishing up.

"...how are things with you and Jane, if you don't mind my asking?" Lucia asked curiously. "It just, surprised me since you two weren't really talking much up until very recently and now..."

"...now we can't get enough of each other?" He finished for her.

"Basically."

"..." Yami sighed, "There are no words."

Lucia smiled, "So then...what happens now with you guys?"

"What do you mean, Lucia?"

"Well like...are you guys...boyfriend and girlfriend?" She struggled to say, "I...couldn't imagine you with a girlfriend to be honest."

"Hm," Yami shrugged, putting his tools away. "I couldn't either. The concept is very modern, we didn't have this in my time...you were either married or you were not."

"Is that what you want then?" Lucia blinked. The Pharaoh chuckled.

"In time." He said.

"How much time?" Lucia dug for more, knowing Jane would love to know. Yami crossed his arms.

"Whenever the opportunity arrives." He said. Of course the Pharaoh would love to marry Jane immediately, there's no question about that. But a lot comes with marriage. What would happen to their friends? Yami's ideal living space with his future wife wasn't meant to be so crowded and he wouldn't feel comfortable moving on with his life and leaving Link behind who is dealing with a lot and has been there from the beginning. It really was just a matter of time.

"That reminds me..." Yami said as Lucia stood up from the bathroom stool. "Have you been in my room recently, tampering where Yugi keeps the millenium items?"

Lucia blinked. "No, I don't even know where they are."

Yami frowned. Though he knew it was unlikely, he had hoped it was her. "I see."

"Thanks for keeping this between us, Pharaoh. I promise I'll be more careful." Lucia said.

And when Lucia was out of sight, Yami pushed half the bathroom toiletries off the counter in anger. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, contemplating how or what he can possibly say to Sora to convince him to leave early. His presence was a ticking time bomb to the affects of Jane's curse.

* * *

When Lucia got downstairs, she noticed that everyone had been outside. Her eyes widened when she noticed that Link got the pool going, and Jane and Sora were already swimming inside. She quickly slipped on a pair of sandles by the sliding doors and let herself out to join Link by the lawn chairs.

"When did you start the pool?" She said surprised. Link rubbed the back of his head.

"Sora insisted to go for a swim. He's teaching Jane breath hold techniques." He said.

"Breath hold techniques?" Lucia raised a brow, watching Jane in the bool with her Pjs on and Sora in his trunks, demonstrating breatheing patterns before submerging.

"Yeah. Sora's spent time in a realm of Merfolk and picked up some tricks and Jane asked if he could show her. Apparently she's into that." Link said. Lucia sat next to Link.

"You could teach her the same tricks, can't you?" She blinked. Link smiled.

"Sure I can. Sora just has more patience for her." He said. Lucia smiled back and Link noticed her marks were gone.

"What happened to the bruises from this morning?" He asked. Lucia frowned.

"I had them covered up." She said.

"How did you get them anyway? You never ended up telling me." He asked.

"No, stop," Sora laughed, "If you take in too much air, you'll float and can't stay under."

Jane sighed, "But if I don't take air, I wont last as long!"

"That's only cause you're not used to it." He said, "You gotta practice."

Jane took a deep breath once more, let it out, and sunk herself under water. Then, Sora followed.

"It was an accident," Lucia said, "I don't think you meant to..."

Link's eyes widened as he sat up. "...I did it? W-when? I-...w-why didn't you tell me?"

"I wasn't going to say anything but when you saw me this morning with them, Jane could hear me from our room and I didn't want to make you feel exposed." Lucia said. "And I'm only telling you now because...I can't lie to you, Link."

Link turned his body to face Lucia. "What did I do? I couldn't remember the last events of Joey's wedding and now I can't remember hurting you...how bad will this get?"

Lucia put her hands up. "It wasn't that bad, really."

"What'd I do, Lucia?" Link asked with sincere eyes.

"Gasp!" Jane came out of the water with Sora, frantically breathing. "That was barily a few seconds!"

Sora laughed and Link turned around.

"Do it again!" He said, "both of you, I'll time you."

"Alright, one two-" Jane said and both of them went under- which was all Link wanted.

"You bit me." Lucia said, "You said it was a bonding ritual."

Link's eyebrows arched, "...a bonding-"

Then Yami opened the sliding doors. "Link, I have to be somewhere and thought you may need a ride picking Junior up from school."

Link sighed. "Yeah, thanks Pharaoh."

"Gasp! How'd we do!?" Jane said emerging. Link shrugged.

"Sorry we got interrupted." He said.

"I counted like 3 seconds." Sora teased. When the Pharaoh noticed Sora and Jane in the pool, he immediately got a bad ache in his stomach.

"Sora!" He called, "Dry off. You'll be joining us."

Jane pulled out of the pool and jogged to the king. "You slept in today!" She said, wanting to hug him but hesitating because she was soaked. Yami of course couldn't hold back a smile.

"What are you doing, swimming with your garments on?" He asked her. Her eyebrows dropped.

"Sora pushed me in." She said and Sora laughed in the back ground with his hands behind his head. Yami cupped her face with concern.

"We're just going to run a few errands. Get into dry clothes before you get sick." He said. Jane smiled.

"Ok." She grabbed a towel by Lucia and Sora hopped out of the pool as well.

"So why am I coming?" He asked.

"This is an opportunity for you to see that there is no darkness in Savannah Georgia and that you are mistaken." Yami said.

"Well...ok." Sora shurgged, not convinced, waking into the house while grabbing his clothes on the way. Yami and Link waved the girls goodbye and Jane fell back onto the long lawn chair where Link was before.

"Breath hold techinques?" Lucia raised a brow. Jane smiled.

"Yeah." She said. Lucia blinked.

"Why?" Lucia worried, "You're not...I mean...I know you always liked Sora..."

Jane's smile revearsed, "It's not like that, I promise. It's just..." Jane brought her voice down to a whisper, "Sora told me he can take us to the world of The Little Mermaid."

Lucia's eyes widened. "What!? You want to leave Savannah Georgia!?"

"Not leave! I just want to visit a world with mer-look, I'm confused, I thought you'd be excited."

"Sorry, I am too surprised that you're even considering. Didn't you and Diana ask to visit Hyrule and Link and Yami scolded you so badly, that you never asked again?" Lucia crossed her arms, "How on earth will you convince them this time?"

Jane looked up at a random blooming tree in thought and Lucia's mouth opened.

"You want to go in secret?" Lucia asked. "No way, you would never lie to Yami."

"I don't want to go behind their back, I intend to ask...eventually. I mean, it's different this time. Hyrule is much more dangerous and you and I both know Sora is very capable as a body guard and I think Yami would be open minded. Maybe they'll even come with us. Sora said that Atlantica has been sealed and is perfectly safe as long as he stays with us."

"Does Sora know about this?" Lucia asked. "When did you two become bffs?"

Jane chuckled. "Nothing's final, I'm going to ask Yami first. And with the way things have been with is lately, I am sure he'll say yes."

* * *

Meanwhile

"Absolutely not." The Pharaoh said as he pulled up to Junior's school. Sora blinked in surprise from the back seat, holding onto the back rest of Yami's chair.

"Why not?" He asked. Link listened in the passenger seat.

"You're asking me to allow you to take the girls into another dimension." He repeated, "No."

"But it's perfectly safe! You can come with us. Jane wants to see real mermai-"

"What Jane says she wants or doesn't want is not for you to be concerned about, Sora." Yami said. Link sunk into his chair.

"We can at least think about it, Pharaoh. They're not asking to see a dangerous world." Link said.

"I recall Sora explaining that he was here to cure Savannah Georgia of darkness. Not to take our friends out on a field trip." Yami said deeply, turning to Sora, "I don't know anything about this world, or you for that matter."

Sora frowned before Link responded.

"The girls do. Come on, Pharoah. You know how this works. Remember when we first met Jane and Lucia and how fast we became aquainted? It's because they knew us all their lives. If they trust Sora, that's enough for me." Link explained.

Yami clenched his fist on the wheel. He was worried about the curse and that's all. He wasn't worried about Sora or a realm of merpeople. He just didn't want to lose Jane...especially to another man.

"We're early." Yami said, "Why don't you two step out and wait for Junior while I run an errand?"

Link grunted, "...are you sure you don't want to wait with us so we can go with you?"

The Pharaoh looked straight ahead without responding and Link accepted that he was to mind his own business. He turned to face Sora in the back seat who crossed his arms, confused.

"Come on, Sora. Maybe you and I can make sure this area is clear." Link said and Sora silently exited the car with him and watched the Pharaoh quickly but swiftly pull out of the lot and drive off.

"What'd I say?" Sora asked genuinely concerned. Link was also confused about why the Pharaoh was behaving the way he was. "Does he not like me, or something?"

"I really don't think that's the case," Link grunted. He hasn't seen Yami this way since his troubles with Jane. What was bothering him?

"Then why won't he let us visit Atlantica? I promise, there's nothing in that world to worry about. It's a beautiful place, he'd love it!" Sora explained.

"I'm not sure. He worries, I guess." Link said.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yami drove into town and stopped by a shop he didn't think he would ever visit again: Mr Gold's Pawn Shop. He let himself in and walked sternly through the store knowing that Mr Gold was present even though he was not in view. Yami waited without saying a word.

"Pharaoh Atem," Mr Gold said as he came out from the back room. "Glad to see you've dropped by sooner than I imagined. Were you able to finally move on from that woman?"

The Pharaoh did not answer as his third eye examined him. He was picking up all the wrong auras. Mr Gold cleared his throat.

"I assume you're interested in another deal?" He asked.

"That is the last thing I want from you, Gold. I have only come here to ask you a question." Yami said.

Mr Gold smiled with his hands crossed on the counter of his myserious shop.

"And what might that be?" He asked. After a pause.

"The deal we made included Jane being cursed. You said that if she were to come into contact with beings from another realm, that her curse would be in affect and her heart would reset itself?" He clarified.

"That's right." Gold nodded.

"If she ran into such beings in this realm, does that apply as well? Would she...forget me?" Yami asked.  
Mr Gold smiled. "No. She would be cursed but the effects only apply when she leaves this world. While she remains here, her heart is not affected."

Yami sighed like what felt like an oasis in a desert. Absolute relief. If this was the case then Jane was safe here in Savanah Georgia, even when there were unlikely visitors. The only thing he had to make sure was she stayed in this realm and no one find out about the horrible mistake he had made when trusting Rumpelstiltskin.

"Thank you. That's all." Yami said, turning around before Mr Gold stopped him.

"Before you go," He said and Yami stopped without turning around, "I'd like to tell you something you may find interesting."

Yami waited, turning his head just slightly to increase his hearing senses.

"Did you know that different realms have different times?" He asked.

"Of course I am aware. I am from Ancient Egypt after all." Yami said.

"Not time period, Pharaoh, _time_. Like how fast the clock ticks." Mr Gold said. Yami was a _riddler_ himself, so he was quick to understand Gold's.

"...How different are they?" Yami asked.

"Depends on the realm. Let's just say a single day here, may be a whole month _there_." Gold said.

"Why are you telling me this, Gold?" Yami asked. Gold shrugged.

"Just thought you'd care to know." He said.

"I don't." The Pharoah said. "Good day."

When the Pharaoh was out of sight, Mr Gold's smile did not leave from his face. He was soon acquainted by a dark shadow...

"He didn't even sense my presence." The shadow said, "He has grown weaker."

"That's what love does, love _is_ weakness," Gold answered. "I also have part of his third eye. It's true that I can't use it's power, but it makes us immune to his. Fortunately for us, the Pharaoh's experience with magic isn't quite as intriguing as mine so he wouldn't have known that. Having said that though, he's still very powerful but being able to move about without his interference is a big step already."

"I still feel like you should have pushed for more information," The shadow said, "All we accomplished was telling him that time in other realms differ from here."

"That's not true, he shared a great deal of information." Mr Gold explained, using a note pad to illustrate his thoughts, "The Pharoah asked me if Jane would forget him if in contact with someone from another world. This tells me that the Pharoah is still in love with the girl and hasn't drank the vile, however his concern of the curse's details prove that he is either still considering, or she has seen the potion and been cursed against his will."

"So then how can we make sure she becomes cursed?" The shadow asked, "Isn't that what you wanted? To curse Jane and weaken the King of Games?"

"She's already cursed." Gold said, "Think about it. He asked about a being from another realm coming _here_. Which means someone new has come into Savannah Georgia and is threatening the Pharaoh's control over the curse."

The shadow chuckled, "I see. Well played." He said, "So who do you think is the newcomer?"

"The only person who could pose a threat to a the Multifarous Heart Curse." Gold pulled out a jar from under the counter. Inside was a star shaped, hand crafted trinket that was glowing and trying to escape the jar, "The Keyblade master, Sora."

* * *

At Juniors School

"Well, I don't want to intrude on anything that I shouldn't...this isn't my world after all." Sora mentioned, "I'm usually just passing through but...do you know the feeling after you meet a stranger, you some how feel like you've known them for years?"

Link smiled as Sora said this, both boys leaning against the fence at Savannah Georgia's Elementry school.

"Sure, I can relate with that. Why?" Link asked.

"I feel that with Jane and Lucia." Sora said, "I know I only crashed into this world a few days ago, but I feel like I've met them before. Then again, I've always been quick to make friends."

"If you're suggesting that you're around for more reasons than your mission to destroy the darkness..." Link said, "I already knew that the moment you stayed over night in our guest room."

Sora smiled. "That obvious?"

"Well, when I was back in my world and carrying out a mission, I didn't just take stops at someone's younger brothers school on the way. I would want to complete the job as soon as possible, not take my time." Link explained.

"Is that ok?" Sora asked. Link grunted.

"More than ok. I am still not convinced that there's any danger anyway. As far as I can tell, you're just a new friend who's hanging around." He said. "It may be early to say, but I like you."

Sora put his arms behind his head proudly. "I like you too, Link!"

"Take my advice though, Sora," Link added, "Avoid the world traveling plans until the Pharaoh has grown used to the idea of having you around."

"Sure." Sora said, watching the kids begin to come out of the building. "If its ok to ask...why is the Pharaoh so strict anyway? I understand the story he told us when I arrived – about defeating the monster Zorc and saving the world – but he's happy now, right?"

"He's happier than he's ever been but that's also why he's so tense all the time. He doesn't want anyone to take away that happiness." Link explained.

"By happiness you mean...Jane, right?" Sora concluded. "Why is he so worried about losing her?"

Link sighed. "It's a bit of a long story, but let's just say that even when he had her, he didn't really. It was very recently that they've becoming stable so I think it hasn't been long enough to make the Pharoah comfertable enough...though I could be wrong. The Pharoah has a habbit of holding a lot of secrets."

Sora watched Junior come out with his back pack and a book, looking around the yard for his big brother. It was strangely difficult to accept Jane and the Pharoah's relationship and he wasn't sure why that was. Something about it seemed...wrong. Almost as though they didn't belong with each other. He wasn't sure why he felt that way. Perhaps it was because they are from different worlds and it went against what he's been seeing the past few years but...the two of them will take some getting used to...whatever the reason.

"Over here, Junior!" Link waved. Sora cleared his throat.

"So, would you say Jane is the most precious thing to him?" Sora asked once more. Link laughed as Junior nearly dropped his book on the way.

"No, you're forgetting Yugi." Link said and Sora's eyes widened.

"Yugi?" He asked, "Yugi is more important to him than Jane is?"

"Hey big bro, hey Sora." Junior greeted as he went into Link's arms. Link corrected Junior's hair to cover his pointed ears.

"I wouldn't say that but..." Link said, "You know what, I'm not sure. You'd have to ask him I guess."

Sora stuffed his large hands into his pockets. He wasn't comfortable to ask Yami himself.

"Well, what about you, Link?" Sora asked, "Are you happy?"

Link begin his way back to the parking lot where Yami was to pick them up.

"Of course, I've been happy since I met the Pharaoh and Yugi. We're very comfortable here." He said.

"Well," Sora mumbled, "I sorta meant happy as in...settled. You and Lucia seem pretty close."

Link grunted when he blushed and Junior laughed, putting his palms on Link's face, feeling the heat radiate from his cheeks.

"Do we?" He asked. Sora smiled widely and deviously.

"Oooohh, so you two love birds have yet to confess huh?" He teased.

"Link saw Lucia naked once." Junior said, repeating the story again. One of his favourites. Link was so used to it, he only _sweat-dropped_ this time.

"Thanks Junior, that's a great thing to say." Link said sarcastically. "Why don't you tell him about the time Duke and Joey flashed me in front of her, Jane _and_ Mai."

"Aw...you beat me to it." Junior genuinely pouted over that and Sora laughed.

"No way, what did you do?" Sora asked.

"Freak out." Link sighed, "Then beat them up."

"What about the girls? Did they say anything?"

"They were stunned? I don't know, I was too focused on killing Joey and Duke, I didn't really pay attention." Link thought.

"Except Jane offered to help you dress remember?" Junior laughed mischievously. Link laughed too.

"Oh yeah I forgot she sai- wait a minute, Junior. How do you know that, you weren't there!"

"Joey told me." Junior said and Link grunted.

"Is nothing sacred in our house?!" He sighed, "Sora. Be careful, there are no secrets with these people."

Sora laughed.

* * *

The House

 _Jane_

"That sounds romantic," Jane said to her phone that was on speaker while she tidied up the girls bathroom, "So how much longer will you be staying there?"

 _Maybe longer than planned. It was a mistake coming to a resort with all you can eat. You can imagine what it's like having meals with Joey..._

Jane laughed, "Be careful, he's going to pack on the pounds fast!"

 _Not Joey. He has a black hole where his stomach should be._

Jane laughed again. "I'm glad you're having fun, Mai. I miss you guys, it's been really strange without you here. Even Yugi is at Domino and with Sora around, things are changing really fast."

Jane had updated Mai about the events in her absence, and Mai and Joey have suggested to keep things as simple as possible.

 _Don't worry, hun. I have plenty of work to do in Savannah Georgia when I get back and with Joey around, I am sure Yugi will visit more often._

"That would be nice," Jane said, "I feel bad that Atem has been alone at night."

 _So go in there and keep him company._

"I knew you'd say that." Jane rolled her eyes.

 _Then don't set them up, darlin'._

"Well I can't anyway. He's requested I stay with Lucia in my room because reasons." Jane said in frustration, "I thought the _old fashioned_ ship has sailed since we've gone all the way already but apparently not."

 _You gotta do what the boss says. Anyway, hun. I have to let you go. Joey's soaked from swimming and my cell phone is endangered by him._

"Ha ha, sure Mai. We'll talk later."

When Jane hung up the phone, she went into her room and picked up a very expensive looking box from her desk and held it to her chest.

"Yami's watch..." She said to herself with a blush. She had yet to give it to him because of Sora's sudden appearence and the moment hadn't arrived yet. But the Pharoah wasn't working today so she was sure she could give it to him soon.

She put the money that she owed Lucia for the watch on her bed and sat down.

"Yami...no, Atem." Jane rehearsed. "I know you and I are...a thing? No...exclusive. Yah. And I know I was a pain in the past...no, a stubborn brat in the past and I know you worry I will be again. So! I got you this gift as a way to...to...redeem myself! And..." Jane ran out of ideas. "And...I guess I'll end with _I love you_. Gosh, I'm so boring. Yami would come up with such a fancy, poetic way to say it."

When Jane heard the front door, she hid the watch under her pillow and rushed down stairs.

"Lucia! The boys are home. Hide any and all embarrassing things~." She said as usual protocol. And hearing the jingle of Yami's keys on the other side brought her great joy.

When the door opened, Junior rush in and past Jane. Link told him not to run, removed his boots, quickly nodded a _hello_ to Jane and went on to greet Lucia. The Pharaoh came after, with Sora behind him and when Jane saw the King of games she smiled.

"I'm not drenched anymore." She said. "Welcome home."

The Pharaoh seemed cold when he didn't respond right away. His attention was on hanging his jacket.

"Hey Jane." Sora let himself in, kicking off his large shoes much more effortlessly than Yami with his buckled boots. "Is there anything to eat? I'm starting to get hungry."

Jane didn't take her eyes off the Pharaoh. "Yeah, Lucia's cooking now."

Sora sensed the tension, feeling that feeling of wrongness again but decided to mind his own business and leave the area to join the others.

"Are you alright?" Jane asked Yami when his shoes were off. The king looked at Jane and pulled her into an embrace, releasing a long awaited sigh of stress and worry.

"I'm wonderful," He said, letting her go. Jane sighed as well.

"I thought you had a bad day or something for a minute there-"

"I did, but...I'm home now so it's all forgotten." He said. Jane raised a brow.

"Are you sure?" She asked through the sound of Sora's laughter from the kitchen and showering Lucia with compliments over her cooking.

"Come with me upstairs, I need a minute in silence." Yami said.

Upstairs, Yami went straight to his washroom to splash some water on his face. Before he can relax, he had one thing to ask Jane.

Jane followed him to the bathroom and watched him. He cleared his throat.

"I...need the millenium items to help Sora and Link with the darkness." He made up on the spot, "But I can't seem to recall where Yugi hid them."

"Hm," Jane said casually, "You'll have to ask him."

"I will..." Yami paused, turning to her, "...you don't...happen to know where, do you?"

Will she mention what she found? Jane remembered finding the items when she came to look for her wallet and lightly gasped.

"Oh, actually I do know where they are." She said innocently as Yami's eyes widened. "I came up looking for my wallet the other day and -" She gasped again louder, "-that reminds me! I bought something, I wanted to show you-"

Yami cleared his throat and stopped Jane before she ran off. "The items?"

Jane blinked, "Right, they're under a floor board by your bed."

Yami frowned. Part of him hoped she's guess wrong and wasn't cursed. Wishful thinking.

"Thank you, that's right. I uh...I remember now." He said, walking back to his room. He went into his closet and grabbed a button up to wear and Jane pursed her lip, wondering why he didn't go for the items right away.

"...Atem?" She said, Yami nearly blushing over getting used to hearing his name in the filter of her voice. "Are you sure you're ok?"

Of course, the most logical way to keep Jane from wandering was keeping her as close as possible. He smiled.

"Yes." He said, "Never better."

He put his button up on without buttoning any buttons and put a hand on Jane's face in preperation for a kiss. She blushed.

"You know...I did want to ask you something." She said before anything.

"What is it?" He said without pulling away.

"Are we...um," Jane said, "I mean people are wondering...I mean, I'm wondering too if...are we like...dateing?"

Yami laughed, and rubbed his forehead. "You are not, though you should have been...you're not the first person to ask me this."

Jane giggled, "It's weird 'cause I don't think labels are important but I thought I should-"

"Labels are important to me. It let's the world know to whom we belong." Yami said. Jane shrugged.

"Never thought about it that way." She said.

"To answer your question," He brought a hand to his finger, "in this modern age, I would agree that is the case."

Jane smiled, "Hm. The Pharaoh is my boyfriend. You know, it kind of has a nice ring to it." She joked.

"Hm," he chuckled, "I think calling you _my Queen_ sounds even better."

And just as the two were about to share a kiss, they were interrupted.

"Uh," Sora said at the door. "I was sent to let you know that lunch is on the table..."

Jane hummed in embarrassment and Yami gestured Jane slightly behind him. He wanted to blame Sora, but the door _was_ open... Still, that timing. Was he watching?

"We will be down shortly." Yami answered. Sora put his hands in his pockets, appearing hesitant to leave.

"Mm, okay." He said awkwardly, turning around while still looking at them for several seconds before heading off. Jane looked suspciously...as she knows Sora very well. She hoped she was wrong but it...felt like he interrupted them on purpose.

"Shall we?" Yami snapped her out of it and Jane nodded. The watch would have to wait it seemed.

"Yeah, I'm hungry." She said, sweetly playing with Yami's hand in hers before letting go. "Lunch always sounds more pleasent when it's not my turn to prepare it."

Yami chuckled.

* * *

Gold's Pawn Shop

"What is that thing?" The shadow asked.

"This is a little token I picked up in another world once. It was given to me in exchange for a deal from a young woman. She informed me that it belonged to Sora himself, the famous locker of worlds." Mr Gold tapped the jar cap proudly, "When I was banished to this realm and discovered that there was magic in Savannah Georgia that didn't belong, I knew it was a matter of time before Sora would visit to take that away. It would be the perfect time to use him and the Keyblade to return to the realm in which I came. So, I put a locator spell on this wayfinder of his to find the bastard and it hasn't reacted for years...until now."

"A locator spell?" The shadow asked.

"It's a spell that you cast on an object and it shows you the location of the owner," Gold explained, "And judging from the Pharaoh's visit, I assume Sora isn't far at all."

"Don't forget my side of this, Gold," The shadow said, "I help you get Sora and you help me with-"

"I haven't forgotten. You'll get your side of the bargain, I assure you. I never break a deal." Gold said. "However, we can't move in on Sora just yet, no, we are far from that step. The Pharaoh is still too great of a threat, not to mention that annoying elf friend of his. We need to make sure that Sora gives the girls a taste of dimension travelling that will result in the Pharaoh's defeat."

"Why both girls? Isn't it more effective if Sora took Jane alone?" The shadow asked, "You know, make the Pharoah jelous and thus weakening him even more?"

"Lucia is an important pawn in this as well, she is the key to getting what you want." Gold said, "As we speak, that woman is writing away in her books, creating another realm right now. The realm where _they_ are."

"Excellent," The shadow grinned in excitement. "And how will we destroy them?"

"Love is weakness, remember? It is the greatest strength in the world, but when manipulated, can be the most desctructive force." Gold said, "And we will need both girls..."

Mr Gold whispered his last words, "Did I mention that the curse was sort of...contagious?"

"Contagious?" The shadow questioned, "In what way, Rumple?"

"It works for two. And cursing Lucia might provide us with an advantage." Gold explained. "The only requirement is for Lucia to have fallen in love here first. We need to know if that has already happened...or if we need to make it so."

"Why would having both girls benefit us?"

"If one girl is cursed, the other will knock some sense into her. If they're both cursed, then they will encourage each other to explore the other realms that their hearts are drawn to. They have infinite hearts, they can't help themselves." Gold explained, "People are always more likely to listen to their emotions then what's logical...especially if they're cursed to do so."

"And having them travel worlds helps us because?" The shadow wondered.

"The more they travel, the more magic they'll bring here. More magic, means more imbalance-too much that they can handle that they will eventually need help. My help." Gold explained. "I'll offer a deal they can't refuse."

The shadow laughed in excitement. "Man. With that many hearts, they can't help but destroy themselves and the Pharaoh will have to get involved to protect them eventually...love really is weakness."

"Speaking from personal experience," Gold said, "It is."

* * *

 **A/N: SOO MUCH SET UP. AH! I love it, this was a hard chapter to write btw js, because lots of plans on the way... hope you enjoy reading.**


	20. Vol 3 Ch 4: The Miraculous Idea

**"** _ **Lucia is an important pawn in this as well, she is the key to getting what you want."**  
_ **  
Savannah Georgia ~ ForWARd** _  
Volume 3 – Chapter 4_ _: The Miraculous Idea  
Lucia's School  
1 month later  
Narrator's_ _P.O.V_

It's been a whole month since Sora's arrival in Savannah Georgia and there still hadn't been any signs that the world was in need of his help. Still, trusting his keyblade, Sora continues to visit this realm and stick around as he has begun to grow extremely attached to it. Things were pretty normal the last few weeks until Joey and Mai returned from their honeymoon and visited their friends with stories over drinks one summer night. The Pharaoh had finally begun to show comfort around Sora as time passes without problem and has even asked for him during times of his absence. However, he still remains on guard. Link was promoted at the stables and is now doing more than providing lessons, he is also breeding the horses with Ash who eventually plans on selling them to expand his business. As for Lucia, she continues to go to school and hopes to finish as soon as possible to she can team up with Jane in the creative world. It was summer now and she was entering a new semester with a whole new curriculum.

Lucia was currently on her lunch break, going through a quick prayer before digging into her sushi. Mai and Sora had stopped by to give her company before heading back to their own worlds to attend to their own lives.

"Bon Apetito!" Lucia said before grabbing the first california role. She was in school so, you can imagine she had on her usual attire: zip up, and bulky headphones around her neck.

Sora wasn't hungry, but he grabbed some pizza since Lucia was eating.

"When's your classes over, Lucia?" He asked her. Mai sat next to him, hair in a pony tail and wearing a dressy loose white top over a pair of sexy dark jeans and open toed heals. She observed the two while slurping from the straw in her drink even though she had no meal.

"My first one was pretty boring, just painting. But I still have 2 more, so a few more hours." Lucia said.

"Are you goin' straight home after?" Mai asked. Lucia shook her head.

"No, I have a lesson with Link this afternoon." She said.

"How are things with Link by the way?" Sora wondered with a mouthful, "Did he ask you out yet?"

Lucia blushed, knowing it was no longer a secret what they had going on.

"We're getting there..." She said, remembering that Link had gone dark quite often lately but has become less of a problem that she hasn't even mentioned it to the Pharaoh. When Link turns, all he wants to do is be with her. Last time he changed, he convinced her to go for a walk in the night and they kissed several times. It felt like she was already dating him, but he just didn't know it.

"Well I'm just glad the drama is over," Mai said with a sigh, "what happened at my wedding was a bit less than flattering."

"It's funny how Link was pretending to be someone else," Sora commented, having only been told the highlights. "What was so wrong about being himself?"

Mai shuffled Sora's hair. "Not everyone has your game, hun."

Lucia chuckled. She felt like Drew was now Dark Link. She just needed to bring him out of the conscious Link.

"Well he's more confident now. He talks about being with me pretty often. He's just waiting for the right moment, I'm sure." She explained. "He did say that he wants to know it's what he wants first. I think he's struggling with other things."

"Like what, breeding horses?" Mai raised a brow. "That isn't an excuse to leave a lady waiting. If a goofball like Joey can propose, Link can ask you on a measly date."

Lucia frowned. "You think so?"

Sora sighed. "Well when you put it that way, I see her point."

"What do I do then?" Lucia asked. Mai smiled.

"You'll have to be the one to ask him." She said. Then Lucia's phone vibrated. "Or move on to other men." She added.

"Is that Nathaniel again?" Sora blinked. "Your pen pal from Paris?"

Lucia peaked at the phone and got the message: _It's done._ She smiled.

"Oh he just finished editing the first draft of my story." She said. Sora put his hands behind his head.

"Oh right, I always forget you're writing a novel." He commented. "What is it about anyway?"

Lucia began rum-edging through her bag. "Ok, don't judge my drawings..."

She pulled out a notebook where she had drawn on the front cover with sharpies. It read, _Miraculous: Tales of Lady Bug and Chat Noir._ She set it down on the table and patted the front. The other two leaned in curiously as she explained.

"I have only been writing since the spring, so it still needs ton's of work, but I basically collaborated with Joey on this idea that started for fun at first but then Nathaniel helped me flesh it out into a full fledged super hero story." She said. "In honor of him, I had it take place in Paris, about a girl and a boy who have special jewels that allow them to transform into super heroes. One being Lady Bug, and the other one Chat Noir – the french to honor Nathaniel again, he's been a great help."

Mai took the notebook and flipped through the designs with Sora peaking in as well as he finished his Pizza. He swallowed and smiled widely, open mouthed.

"Lucia, the cat looks pretty cool!" He said. Lucia smiled in thanks.

"The premise is that they continue to save Paris from the villain and...ultimately I hope to get Jane to collaborate with Nathanial and I and build this into a comic but we still have to finish the story. I mean, we still haven't decided the concept or identity of out main super villain."

Mai returned the book. "You put in a lot of work here."

"So, how does it feel to create a whole new world?" Sora asked, again putting his hands behind his head. Lucia blinked, having completely forgotten that the multi-verse theory is in fact true.

"Oh yeah...some where out there is a world with all these characters..." She thought out loud.

"Hey, maybe I'll visit them some day and give you a report." Sora said confidently. Lucia smiled widely and nodded, wishing she was able to join him.

"Speaking of," Sora said, "I better head back before Riku get's upset."

Lucia nodded. "I have to get to class too."

"And I have a knuckle head of a husband waiting for his lunch." Mai said, "Will you send me back, Sora?"

Sora nodded, "Sure. Hey Lucia, one more thing." Lucia looked up at Sora who was standing now. "Make sure you let me know who your villain is," he laughed, "I don't want to go to a new world without knowing who my enemies are, you know?"

Lucia chuckled, "Sure Sora. As soon as Nathaniel and I decide, we'll let you know."

And with that, Sora and Mai were gone.

Lucia sighed when she had finished her sushi and tossed the plastic out. She slipped on her back pack and made her way. Because it was Savannah Georgia, the school was quite small and she was heading into her next class which was a focus on drapery, costumes, fashion, textures and all that fun stuff.

She was one of the first students to arrive inside. The room was set up like a university theater except there were only about 4 rows of benches, enough for about 15 students. She took a seat near the front despite her inner shyness telling her not to, and claimed the spot as hers. Shortly after, her new classmates began to join her, all new faces she hadn't seen as most of the students in this particular class were taking different programs. However despite the unfamiliarity, there was one student who stood out and it was a shock what she saw.

"Hi, mind if we sit here?" The girl asked. She had short dark hair and bluebell eyes. She stood there with a smile next to her darker friend and Lucia blinked at the crazy coincidence. This girl looked just like the designs for Ladybug's secret identity in her story. Talk about lucky to have a live reference.

"Sure!" She said, moving over for the two girls. "I'm Lucia."

The two girls joined her, the darker skinned one sitting in between Lucia and Bluebells.

"I'm Alya." She said. Lucia smiled, immediately deciding to use her for inspiration for a supporting character in her book. It would be crazy if Bluebell's name was the same as Nathaniel suggested.

"And this Marionette." The darker girl said and Lucia's stomach turned.

"M-Marionette?" She asked. That was the same name. And with Lucia's life experience with fictional characters coming to life...she couldn't help but wonder. "Are you guys...french?"

Marionette groaned and Alya immediately laughed. "I told you it was obvious!"

"I didn't want to stand out!" Marionette said. Lucia raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with being french?" She asked confused.

"Marionette was hoping people couldn't tell because she didn't want any special treatment." Alya explained. Lucia hummed to herself, intrigued that they're similar, but definitely not following the exact story line of her own story. She decided to learn more.

"Special treatment?" She questioned. Marionette sighed.

"Paris is famous for having the best fashion designers in the world, and that puts a lot of preassure on me to be good," she said, "especially considering who sent us here."

"Sent you here? You were sent here?" Lucia blinked, "Who sent you here?"

Alya rolled her eyes. "The famous fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste. Every year he sends the most gifted students abroad to study in their field of choice...ultimately to work for 'im."

Something different: Gabriel Agreste was not one of her own characters, Lucia thought.

"That's neat! So you both must be really good! But, why Savannah Georgia? Wouldn't you stay in Paris or go to...I don't know, New York or something?"

The girls looked at each other and shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Marionette said. Lucia found that suspicious. Alya smiled.

"Who cares, girl. Savannah Georgia is a beautiful place!" She said. Lucia nodded.

"You'll find this place is...quite magical." She said, coming from complete honesty. "So how many students are here from Paris?"

Marionette looked at her fingers to count. "Uh..there's me and Alya and then..that would make 4 of us."

"Where do you guys live?" Lucia blinked, "Did your families come with you?"

"We live on campus. With Gabriel's generosity, the rooms are quite luxurious." Alya said. Marionette rolled her eyes.

"She doesn't stop talking about the rooms." She said with a silly smile. "What about you Lucia, are you from here?"

Lucia blushed, being asked about herself always made her nervous. "No, I am actually from Canada. I moved here with my friends. I am the only student among us."

Marionette blinked. "Wow, how are you able to afford it?"

Lucia blinked, realizing that was a fair question. "Oh, well they all work and, one of my friends owns the museum down town."

The girls looked surprised. "Your friend owns that museum? The famous one?"

"How old are you friends, Lucia?" Marionette wondered. Lucia had forgotten that Yami's museum was a world wide phenomenon earlier this year. Though the internet craze has died down, it's still always packed over there.

"We're all different. The one who owns the Museum is..." Lucia paused, feeling ashamed forgetting how old Yami was in real time. She always thought of him as 5000, "...uh 26, I think? Mid twenties."

"Wow, that's so young to own an entire museum." Alya mentioned, "He must have come from serious money, huh?"

Lucia looked up, nearly rolling her eyes. Yami came from money? You can say that again.

"So what are you studying?" Alya asked Lucia. Before she had the chance to respond, the professor entered the room, ready to begin class. The girls shrugged at each other, giving a hint to continue their conversation when class over and proceeded to beginning the semester.

* * *

 **The House**

Jane worked in the girls room, leaning over her desk and rendering a digital piece on her cintiq. She sighed in satisfaction, always enjoying work when the house was vacant. She works best when she's alone. Though work was going well, she wasn't able to continue as hunger approached her.

"Break time~." She sang to Luna who was cradled on the desk with her. The two hopped down the stairs and just as they passed the front door, they heard it unlock and Luna returned upstairs, terrified as usual. Jane blinked as she waited for the door to open.

It was Link, sweating from his work. He wasn't hiding his job anymore now that everyone knew he was Drew, so he was returning from work in his work uniform quite frequently now. He removed his shirt as soon as he came into the house and stuttered when he saw Jane. She fell anime style, and he grunted.

"Jane? I didn't know anyone was home right now." He said, holding the shirt against his chest and removing his boots. Jane blinked.

"I'm always home. I have no where to go." She said. Link chuckled.

"I guess I assumed you'd be where the Pharaoh is." He said. Jane huffed.

"I'm not with him all the time. I'm my own person too, you know." She said.

"Right, sorry." Link said, making his way upstairs. A scent of sweat and horses followed him, a scent that most would say stunk badly, but to Jane was sexy. She smiled pathetically as she admired him. Such a fan girl.

"Are you hungry? I'll make ya something." She said toward the stair case.

"Uh, sure. I'm just going to take a shower but I'm leaving right after for a lesson with Luch." He yelled back from his room. Jane went into the kitchen to make basic sandwhiches, 1 for her, and 3 for the Hylian and texted Lucia what she witnessed. She didn't recieve a reply as expected because Lucia was in class, but it'll be funny when she sees it.

When they were done, she wrapped Link's sandwiches, some extra for Lucia as well for Link to take with him. As she ate her sandwich, she thought since everyone was out, maybe she should take Link's word and visit the king of games at work.

Link jogged down the stairs, still topless but holding a shirt in his hands, heading for the door. Jane called him before he left and he grunted again.

"Urgh, I forgot you were here again." He said blushing and sliding his shirt on to cover himself.

Jane groaned. "Am I that forgettable?"

"No no!" Link said, afraid to offend, "I'm just in a hurry, that's all."

Jane handed the bag of sandwiches to him and he smiled a _thank you_. She raised her eyebrow.

"You're not in a hurry," she said, "Lucia's lesson isn't for another hour."

Link twitched. "Well I have other things to do before then."

"Like?" Jane batted her eyelashes suspiciously. Link starred at her, trying to conjure an excuse when, the truth was, he just wanted to practice maintaining his darkness before meeting Lucia, so that he was able to get through the lesson as himself. Part of him was too shy to confess this.

"Like finishing up some things at work with Ash," he lied, "I'm breeding horses. Things get messy."

Jane cringed at the imagery and sighed. "Alright get out of here, Link."

Link closed the door behind him and Jane rubbed her head. _My Ra, that boy is fin_ e, she thought. Then she jogged upstairs, changed her clothes and headed for the Museum. She decided to walk the entire way so she can hitch a ride with Yami on the way home.

* * *

 **Museum**

It was packed as usual, but lucky for Jane, she had a key to the staff entrance. She looked at her reflection on the metal door before entering to ensure her cuteness. Black tights, shall top and hair in a bun; it'll do. She let herself and met eyes with the employees.

They were already familiar with the bosses girlfriend, that some don't even greet her anymore. They wave at most. Jane passed their lounging area where staff take their breaks and let herself into the exhibit halls. She figured the first place to look would be the front where the Egyptian exhibit is, hoping not to need to call him to show up by surprise.

When she arrived, she did not see the Pharaoh, only the sections supervisor, a college intern with a history major watching the area in Yami's place. Jane joined him by the golden wall and cleared her throat.

"Hey, Ven." She said. The boy rolled his eyes, already knowing what she wanted.

"He's upstairs giving a tour to a _V.I.P_ group." He said. "At the prehistoric exhibit."

Jane saluted the boy and turned around, keeping her seashell shaped handbag close to her.

"Thank you." She said, heading toward the stairs. As she got closer to the exhibit, the walls providing hints with fossil decoratives dug into the walls, she could hear Yami's voice becoming louder and clearer as she approached. She kept herself hidden as she didn't want to interrupt them. When she saw the King, she blushed with a smile. He spoke to the group of 8 people, wearing his Pharaoh attire without the cape, talking about where the Museum got their fossils from and showing generosity to the organizations who donated their findings. As he finished his speech, he gave the group 20 minutes to explore the area before continuing the tour. When the group dispersed, Jane revealed herself and walked toward the King.

"What are you doing here?" The Pharaoh asked with a smile, clearly happy with the visit. Jane smiled with her hands behind her back.

"It was quiet in the house, thought I'd visit the Museum." She said. Yami crossed his arms.

"It's alright to say that you're missing me," he said, "I know you work best when you're alone."

Jane flapped her hand. "Details, details." Yami chuckled.

"Will you be taking part of the tour?" He asked, taking her hand. She smiled.

"Sure, I like dinosaurs and stuff." She said. Though it was true, her objective was more to observe Yami at work.

"Excuse me," A voice said. One of the members interrupted their conversation and the Pharaoh let go of Jane's hand to return to his professional position.

"Yes?" He acknowledged her. She covered her mouth before speaking.

"Are you a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh?" She asked, "You look exactly like Yugi Mouto."

The Pharaoh _sweat dropped_ , as hearing this all the time can get tiring. Jane answered for him.

"He get's that a lot. Actually, he's just keeping to the Egyptian theme," She said, "Kazuki's designs were inspired by Ancient Egyptian culture, so it's no surprise his work looks similar."

The Pharaoh crossed his arms and listened to them. The girl nodded.

"That's true! But you must consider to go to a cosplay event or something, you could be famous." She said.

Jane shook her head, "He's already famous, girl. The Museum's got him busy enough,"

As the girl left, he looked at Jane who handled the situation effortlessly and smiled.

"This is why I love you." He said. Jane blushed with a shrug.

"Why, because I'm a good liar?" She said. Yami closed his eyes.

"No. Because you think quickly. You'd make a great leader." He said, kissing her subtly as the workplace wasn't the time to do so. She understood that and crossed her arms.

"You really should cosplay, you know." She joked.

"No thank you, my place is here." He said.

* * *

 **Later**

Later, when the tour had ended, the staff was preparing to close the Museum. Yami and Jane went to the staff room, where Jane waited for him to change back. She leaned against the door to the mens washroom, as they still spoke while he changed in there.

"So, no one will be home until later this evening?" Yami questioned from behind the door, his voice muffled by the barrier. Jane scrolled through social media as she waited.

"Nope. We have no visitors today and Lucia is taking a lesson with Link any minute now," she said, "I thought we could go home and watch something?"

Jane blushed, hoping to get the chance to give the Pharaoh his watch. Over a month later, and the perfect opportunity hasn't arrived. They were approaching the Pharaoh's birthday, so she could give it to him then...?

"Sure, I don't see why not," He said, Jane hearing a zipper. "I don't recall you ever sharing the story how you met Lucia."

Jane blinked. "I can share it, but why the sudden curiosity?"

Yami opened the door, revealing his phone to her. "She sent me a message that I believe was meant for you."

The message read, _I just told Link the story of how we met. Remember our faces when you heard Yami sing? XD_

Jane sweat dropped in embarrassment. That cluts has to watch who she's texting.

"Oh...well, Lucia and I met during our early college days. I think we were 19 at the time." Jane said.

Yami smiled, grabbing his briefcase by his area of the staff room and ready to head out, "And then?"

Jane's eyes fluttered. How sweet was it that he was curious.

"It was mutual friends actually," She began, "I actually used to hang out with 4 other girls a lot more who knew Lucia. Diana was one of them, actually. Lucia and I heard of each other through them but never made the time to meet. One day, she skipped a class and joined us for lunch. We didn't pay mind to each other until she saw a drawing of you in my sketchbook and reffered to you as Atem...which was a pretty big deal for me because too many people in this world think you and Yugi are the same person. So when I saw that she wasn't a fool, I immediately got excited and we sorta started talking about Yu-Gi-Oh any chance we had."

The Pharaoh and Jane stepped into the parking lot and she let him lead to where he parked his car. He chuckled at her story.

"I see. And where does my singing come into play?" He wondered. Jane rolled her eyes and blushed.

"Do I have to tell you that part?" She squirmed. Yami unlocked the car with the automatic button from a few feet away.

"Yes." He joked, but honestly curious. Jane huffed.

"Well keep in mind, I thought you were a fictional character at the time," She warned, "One thing I confided Lucia during our first meeting was...well...your voice sort of...well, I kinda love it?"

Yami opened the door for her and raised a brow at the questioned tone at the end of the sentence. "Kind of?"

Jane held the car door. "I'm saying that...ok." Jane put her hands together, attempting to conjure an easy way to explain it. There wasn't. "Atem, your voice is...pretty...um...erotic..?"

Yami blinked as he wasn't expecting that. "Pardon me?"

Jane hid her face into the door for a second with a groan. "I used yo comment on it all the time...all the girls knew it was one of my favourite things about your character."

The Pharaoh brought a finger to his chin.

 _Woah, your voice IS sexy._ He recalled Diana saying once. He didn't pay mind to it at the time, as he never considered his own voice to be a tool to woo women. It was good to know, though.

"I see," he said, letting Jane into the car and shutting her door before joining her inside. He put his briefcase in the back seat. "And then?"

Jane put her seat belt on. "And then...Lucia found a song sung by your actor from this world to drive me crazy." She said. "That's it. We've been friends ever since."

Yami put an arm around Jane's chair to reverse. As he drove out of the lot to head home, he smiled.

"My favourite part of that story is to learn that my voice has the same affect on you as yours has on me." He said. Jane blushed.

"No way!" She said, "Don't even compare."

"It is the truth-"

"No, no it's not the same-"

"Yes it is, Jane."

"No."

"Yes-"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Atem, I will fight you on this one!" She said, "Trust me, I was a crazy fan girl. I used to have your voice banks on repeat on my phone, ok? I would have your songs highlighted on my playlists. Your voice gets me going way more than mine does to you. End of story."

After a silent pause with Jane crossing her arms and the Pharaoh driving, Yami smiled. _Get's me going_ as in, puts her in the mood? He enjoyed that. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through it while still keeping his attention on the road while occasionally looking at the screen.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked as he searched. The Pharaoh pushed the play button on a file in his library and a familiar sound began to play. It was a recording of what sounded like water and music. Jane listened carefully and realized it was her own voice, singing _Come What May_ in the shower. Her face flushed red like a boiling kettle. "W-W-W-WHEN did you record that!?"

Yami kept his poker smile on, playing it cool. "Hm, ages ago."

"How many ages?!" She said, reaching for his phone, but he dodged her effectively, letting the sound continue to play.

"Likely before moving to Savannah Georgia." He said. He was calm, but Jane was flustered.

"That's a whole other era of time!" She exaggerated, holding her cheeks together.

"Do you believe me now?" He asked, putting the phone away. Jane crossed her arms again.

"Sure, you provided context," She said with a huff, looking out her window, "But that doesn't prove you're into my voice as much as I am into yours."

"Alright then," Yami said, turning on a road, "Why don't you prove it's not?"

Jane looked at him again. "Ok... uh, I have more recordings than you do."

"Invalid. Dan Green in this world does not count." He said. Jane huffed.

"It's still your voice. But fine, I've got more proof," She said, "I get butterflies when you speak."

"Anxiety. Feeling's mutual."

"I let out it out to my girlfriends."

"Link is familiar with how I feel."

"When you sang at Joey's wedding, it hit me so much, I cried."

"I couldn't live without the sound of yours, but you were willing to leave mine forever."

Jane gasped, "I can't believe you just brought that up."

Yami chuckled at his approach at victory, "You're right, we're not on common ground. One of us does love the voice of the other more, but I don't think that's you."

Jane starred at the king in shock. She just had to come with something else, she knew she loved his voice more, she just knew.

"Yeah well-" She said in desperation, "Your voice made me so turned on that I-"

She gasped before finishing, covering her mouth. He won, he so won. He grinned.

"You, what?"

"Nothing, it just made me sexually frustrated."

"What were you going to add?"

"Nothing, that was it. I just tripped over my words."

"What were you going to say, Jane?"

"Nothing!"

As Yami pulled into the driveway of their home, he continued to ask, but she continued to refuse to share. How could she tell Yami that it made her take cold showers, or read and watch mature content, or worse, run to Yuu to put out the steam? She was wayyyyy too embaressed. When he parked, he tried again.

"Are you going to tell me what you-"

"No." She said quickly. Yami smiled.

"Just sexually frustrated?"

"That's all." She said.

"And you believe that you find my voice more enticing than I find yours, for the sole reason of sexual frustration?"

Jane nodded with her eyes closed. "It's a one-up on you."

"If you're going to assume that you're alone on that, you may not be as clever as I thought." He said, leaning over and meeting Jane with a hungry kiss. It surprised her, as she wasn't looking at him when he made the move. It didn't take her long to catch on though, as it was a sexy approach on his part.

* * *

 **The Stables**

Link let the horse fountain water wash over his head as he cooled off.

He did it.

He had let his darkness out while maintaining consciousness. He looked at his reflection in the water, ignoring sounds of horses nearby as he feared nothing. All he saw was the glow of red iris's in both eyes and the white tint in his usually blond hair. Even his hero outfit was darkening...so much so that it blackened. He blinked as he observed this complete look for the first time, slowly feeling his chest had become tighter...his breathe had become easier to come by...and he was feeling...good.

It was strange. It felt like he had transformed. He felt better than ever and he didn't know why. But the strangest part of all was he had new memories-memories of things he never remembered before. He remembered sneaking into Lucia's room...hurting her, touching her and kissing her...over and over again, sometimes multiple nights in a row. He remembered sneaking out with her, hitting on her, and he remembered her letting it all happen.

But for some reason, he wasn't embarrassed, humiliated, or anything he'd predict he'd feel. He felt confident...and proud of himself for doing it. It was like he was...Drew all over again...but darker. With different intentions. Drew wanted to get to know Lucia and practice talking to a woman without the fear of looking like a fool. But this version of himself wanted something else...a mixed urge of wanting to lie with her in passion...or kill her.

Link's phone rang, still a device that he wasn't the most comfortable using and saw that it was Lucia herself. He smiled as she was likely on her way and answered.

"Hey, Luch," He said with confidence. "You ready?"

Lucia paused, the tone was familiar to her as his darker alter ego. "Yeah, I'm 5 minutes away."

"Great. Listen, Emmett was breeding today so he's tired, um-" Link said, "We're gonna share your horse for today."

"That's fine," Lucia said, wondering about the 2 dozen other available horses. "See you soon."

When she hung up. Link cracked his knuckles to control his thoughts.

 _It was just another lesson_ , he told himself.

When Lucia arrived, she sighed when she saw Link was darkened. Part of her wondered what triggered it this time. She liked Dark Link without a doubt, but she was looking forward to a lesson with the hero of time. She walked up to him, already suspicious of his actions. Normal Link would jog to her immediately to help her with her back pack. Dark Link would probably carry her and the back pack...but this time, Link was leaning against the fence with a grin, positioned almost as though he was prepared to share some news. When she met him on the fence, she put down her things and hugged him hello.

"So Emmett's going to be a dad, huh?" She asked. Link laughed.

"He's a great horse. Ash has been offered a lot of money for him from other breeders. I think he regrets giving him to me." He said, putting his arm around Lucia's neck as he guided her inside where the horses were. Lucia was used to this from Dark Link, in fact, she was used to a whole heck of a lot more.

"So, you don't want to sell Emmett?" She wondered. Link shook his head.

"No way, I haven't had such a great horse since Epona." He said. By usual routine, Link guided Lucia to the beginners horses and let out the one Lucia has become familiar with. He grabbed the rope from the harness and walked the horse out with Lucia following behind. When they were outside, Lucia caught up with Link's pace next to him and questioned him.

"Did you have a rough day?" She asked. She was confused. Normally Dark Link came through when Link was stressed out and he usually let out the stress on Lucia before turning back. But so far, he hasn't even complained about his migraine.

"Nope," He said, wondering if he should let her know he was conscious this time, "But I did want to talk to you about some things."

Lucia blinked as she barley kept up his pace with her short legs. "What about?"

"After you," Link said, surprising her by grabbing her by the waist and lifting her onto the horse as though she was made of feathers.

"You always do that." She said with a smile, enjoying it every time. Link chuckled, jumped up and joined her on the horse behind her. She blushed. "Uh, aren't you suppose to be in front?"

"You're the student. You have to be the one to drive." He joked. She hummed to herself, thinking of all the dirty things Dark Link could do to her from behind her on a tall horse that she couldn't easily get away from...still, she had enough lessons to know how to move, and she sent the horse on a basic strut toward the usual spring they ride by.

Link faught all temptation to touch her and Dark Link probably would have. But Link was conscious and though he was feeling devious, he wasn't going to go that far so quickly.

"So, tell me again why we aren't together?" He said, Link blushed a bit, but she was used to Dark Link by now.

"We're together now." She said. Link brushed her hair away from his view.

"Come on, I meant together. You know, like Jane and The Pharaoh are together. The way Mai and Joey are together. The way Duke is together with...everyone." He laughed. Lucia rolled her eyes, but keeping them on the path in front of her.

"Oh, that kind of together," She said. Link adjusted his hat.

"Yeah, so why aren't we?" He repeated. Lucia sighed.

"Because you never asked." She said. Link blinked in surprise. He thought she was going to blame his Darkened state, or at worst case scenario...Dee.

"Oh..." He said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were waiting."

"You told me to wait," She said, "You told me you weren't sure of what you wanted and that you wanted to know if it was me."

 _I have these feelings and...I want to know if what I want is really what I want, you know?_

Link remembered it all happening and felt partially guilty for making her wait this long. He knew he wanted her, he knew for a long time he just...happens to be a bit indecisive with woman.

"Well," he said quietly, touching the back of her shoulders as they arrived at the spring. "I know what I want now."

Lucia looked over her shoulder at Link, partially sad that he was currently Dark. "And what's that?"

Link smiled, glad he was under control of his darkness and..partially appreciating that it had happened. Thankfully, he finally had the guts to say this.

"Lucia, I love you a lot." He said, "I know that now for sure. So I want you to be my special girl."

Lucia frowned and looked away. Link grunted at the reaction and jumped off the horse to face her.

"I'm sorry! Did I make you wait too long?" He panicked, "I knew you loved me a lot earlier on and I should have acted on that, I'm such an idiot."

Lucia raised a brow. Dark Link was acting like...regular Link. And that hurt even more.

"That's not it." She said, "I just wish you would ask me when you're not...sick. You wont even remember this tomorrow."

Link blinked, looking up at Lucia on the horse, disappointed. He gestured over to her, saying _here_ , and helping her off. He didn't want her to know that he had his darkness under control yet.

"Look," He said, lifting her chin up so she was looking at him, "I may be different like this, and probably not remember everything we say or talk about but...I'm still me. My feelings are the same."

"Then why are all out memories together always of you this way? Or of Drew?" She said, worried. "When you're you, you treat me like I'm just your friend."

Link looked up, annoyed with himself. He sighed heavily and walked by Lucia toward the water.

"Ok, I have to confess something then." He said. Lucia listened, still in complete awe that Link hasn't tried to make out with her yet. "Link is...I am...really shy." He chuckled, "Like, astronomically shy."

Lucia almost smiled. "Shy?"

"Yeah. There's a reason why I'm more open to telling you how I feel this way or before when I posed as Drew. I didn't worry about being judged or rejected by you because I wasn't really them. But I want that to change, honest." Link said. Lucia crossed her arms.

"I'll believe that when Link tells me as Link." She huffed. Link laughed.

"Ok, how about you tell me what I said today when I'm the me you're satisfied with. Even if I don't remember, ask me if I want to be with you and I _promise_ , I'll say yes."

"You want me to ask you out?" She raised a brow.

"Yes, it'll have to be you." He said. Lucia sighed.

"But why?"

"By the words of Duke Devlin, _I'm a pussy_." He chuckled.

"Ignore him...But..." She hesitated, "I'm shy too."

"Then ask me in writing! I won't mind." He suggested. "Just say something, if you'd like to accept. It will work out, I promise."

"..." Lucia starred at him for a few seconds, "...alright. I will."

Link grunted a happy grunt before hugging her and spinning her around. She blushed into his shoulder as he did, and when she was down again, she brought a hand to her chin.

"But!" She said, "I am wondering what's wrong with you today. You haven't made a single advance on me today, yet." She said. Link blinked and then smirked.

"Why, do you want me to?"

"What's not what I said." Lucia blushed. Link pulled Lucia in for a kiss but then stopped before he did. He wanted to save it-for when he got his first real kiss with Lucia the moment she asked for it. He instead kissed her forehead.

"Well, I will advance when you want me to." He said, letting her go and sitting by the water, watching unlit fireflies. Lucia was suspicious, but decided to drop it. She instead reached into her jean pockets and pulled out a fabric patch of sorts in the shape of a digital heart. She sat next to Link and showed him.

"I made this in class today." She said. Link examined it form every angle.

"Your first day and you already made something?" He asked. Lucia nodded.

"It's my clothing class. We're going to learn how to sew and design costumes and stuff. A new girl there named Marionette is already ahead of our class and she helped me make it really quickly." Lucia said. "It's the digital heart icon from your game"

Link laughed, "Yeah I recognized it."

Lucia smiled. "I thought we could sew it onto your scarf. You know? Add to it."

Link's eyes widened as he looked at Lucia. She was always thinking of him, even when he wasn't there. He felt extremely special.

"Thank's Luch..." He said, "I'm surprised you're giving it to me know while I'm still...sick."

Sick has become a synonym to Dark for them. Lucia sighed.

"I didn't say I'm giving it to you. I'm just showing it to you." She said, taking it back. "You can have this back when sober Link becomes my special guy."

Link blushed and rubbed Lucia's hand in appreciation. "Thanks. You know, it sort of reminds me of a a sewing patch my mother left behind for me once."

Lucia's eyes widened. Link never mentioned his family before!

"Your mom!?"" She said in surprise. "You remember your mom?"

Link shook his head. "Well no, both of my parents paths in times of war shortly after Junior was born. And, being the hero of time, I wasn't brought up under their wing."

Lucia blinked, listening. "So what happened?"

"Nothing, that was it. They had me, I was sent away and they tried for a family again with Junior, had to go fight and never made it home." He explained.

Lucia frowned. "I'm sorry, Link. I had no idea."

He smiled. "It's really not that big of a deal. I had no relationship with them, so I can't really miss strangers, you know?" He paused, "The best part of the whole thing is that I got Junior. When I returned home after years of training, he was just a baby. He was there in the middle of the tree house all by himself and I found these sewn patches of our names that looked unfinished. I assumed our mother planned to finish them when they got back but were never able to."

Lucia smiled. "One was for you? Then your mother planned on seeing you again!"

Link shrugged. "Maybe. We'll never know."

"I'm sure she did. She probably thought of you all the time." Lucia said. "Where are the patches now?"

"They're still in Hyrule." He said, "I don't really remember what happened to them. You know, I was a teenager taking car of a baby after times of war...it was...the last thing I cared about at the time to be honest."

Lucia nodded. "I understand. I just think you should have kept them. They would keep your parents close."

"It's been years since I've seen them, I wouldn't know where to look." Link said, "It really isn't a big deal, Luch. I haven't thought about those things in ages."

Lucia frowned. Just because Link was strong, it didn't change her mind about her opinion. Link and Junior should have those patches. It was evident that their parents loved them very much and it broke her heart that they never had the chance to show them that. She wished there was a way he could find them again.

* * *

 **That Evening...**  
 _Living Room_

"Tuesday, you're in from 9-3, Wednesday 10-6, Thursday 5-9...Atem, why are you working so much?"

Jane went through Yami's schedule while she waited for him to return with their drinks from the kitchen. After they got home from the Museum, they messed around on the couch while watching a movie and were wondering when the next date would be for them to spend together. Yami returned with two glasses of lemon water, handing Jane her share.

"I have been taking on qualified interns from Savannah Georgia's university, but I am afraid it is not enough. I don't have enough outside authority to manage the Museum every hour of the day." He explained.

"Well, what are the qualifications? Maybe you can hire some of our friends." Jane suggested. Yami took a sip of his drink and put it down on the table in front of them, ignoring _The Babysitter_ being played on screen.

"It's not that simple, Jane." He said, "To manage a business like my Museum would require an education in management, or business at least. Savannah Georgia is a small town for such a popular attraction. I'm afraid there aren't enough suitable workers to go around."

Jane hummed. "I understand..." She also put her drink down in disappointment. Yami had no other choice but to work. Without management at the Museum, the staff wouldn't have order and it would be chaotic. "How did they do it back in Ancient Egypt?"

Yami blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you didn't have courses then. How did a Pharaoh choose the right guards, the right chefs, and the right soldiers to serve him?" Jane wondered. Yami smiled. Jane was still finding ways to impress him.

"They were trained for their work," He said, "Each were given a preliminary test and, depending on what they excelled in, were put into training for a position in their field of skill."

Jane smiled, putting down his schedule on the table. "Then, interview people as their test. If they pass, put them under training. Who cares if they went to school."

Yami rolled his eyes. "My queen, you're forgetting that we would need someone to provide the training."

"You can't?" Jane wondered. The Pharaoh tilted his hand.

"I can lead well and provide instruction but teaching..." He paused. Jane jumped in her seat.

"You can do it, you're good at everything." Jane laughed, "Pretend it's a game. You have a number of positions you want to fill and you have to fill them before the summer's over."

When Yami didn't respond, cracked her knuckles, "Ok, I can make things more interesting. If you lose, you go to the shadow realm. If you win, you'll be declared King of...training."

Yami laughed at the obscurity but appreciated the gesture. "I don't think that deemed motivating."

Jane leaned back on the couch with a better idea. "Ok. If you find a way to cut your hours, whatever that is then...I'll give you a surprise."

"A surprise?" Yami questioned. "What sort of surprise?"

Jane closed her eyes, laying on the couch with her bent legs by the Pharaoh. "It wont be a surprise if I share information, now will it. I promise you'll love it though."

The king pushed Jane's knees aside, giving himself room to hover over Jane and rest his body over hers. He smiled.

"Now that's motivation." He said, kissing her once and then playfully nibbling on her cheek, down to her neck, all in a matter of making it ticklish for her, which she pathetically tried fighting back.

At that moment, Sora came into the world with his keyblade, appearing behind the couch and blinking at what he came to. Jane giggled at Yami's touch, pushing him away but he resisted, continuing to mess with her in a disgustingly adorable way. Sora blushed and cleared his throat. They both stopped and the Pharaoh looked up to find Sora.

"Good evening, Sora. Welcome back." He said, without moving from his position. Sora wished he had.

Jane pushed herself up a tad with her elbows on the couch and looked at Sora upside from from her angle.

"Hey, Sora!" She smiled, "What's going on?"

"Sorry," He said, scratching his head, still holding his keyblade and debating if he should leave with it, "I didn't mean to um-"

Jane blushed. "We're not doing anything."

"Perhaps in the future, it would be best to crossover outside the home, hm?" The Pharaoh suggested, sitting up and allowing Jane to do the same. Sora nodded.

"Sure." He said, letting the keyblade vanish. "I actually came back with some ideas for Lucia. Is she back yet?"

Jane shook her head. "No but, she should be back from her lesson with Link soon."

"Why don't you wait for her upstairs?" Yami said, clearly hinting to Sora that he'd like his privacy with Jane at this moment. Sora put his hands in his pockets, a common gesture of his when he's feeling uncomfortable.

"Sure, if Jane doesn't mind me being in her room?" Sora asked. Jane blinked.

"Why my room? The guest room is vacant." She said. Yami also didn't understand why Sora was being difficult to leave them alone.

"Junior is upstairs," He said, "Why don't you greet him and we'll send Lucia up when she arrives."

Sora wasn't stupid, he got the hint. But still. Having gotten to know Jane and Yami the last month are so has proved they're wonderful people. But that gut feeling of wrongness about them being together this way was still alive and well.

"Alright," He said, turning around and dragging his feet up the stairs. When he was out of sight, Jane and the Pharaoh looked at each other and shrugged.

* * *

 **Later**

Yami and Link were outside, enjoying the night together, talking about their lives and the going on's of it. Link informed Yami about Lucia, even about controlling the darkness and requesting it remained secret. Yami let Link know about the Museum, wondering if he had any spare time to work under him but it wasn't for Link. As they spoke about all kinds of things, Lucia, Jane and Sora hung out in the girls room, something they liked to do once a week or so. The girls just liked to listen to stories that Sora had to offer about his adventures and wonder where he'd go next.

"Either way, this version of Cinderella didn't fall in love with the prince. She tried to kill him." He said dramatically, the girls watching him from their beds. Lucia held a pillow and Jane layed on her stomach with her gave in her hands. "So it gave me the idea for your story, Lucia. I thought it would be cool if Ladybug and Chat Noir had a rivalry arc, where they have a fight and become enemies, but they're still friends in real life."

Lucia flapped her hands. "Maybe. I'm not really thinking about my novel right now."

Jane blinked. "Why not, I think it's a cool idea."

Jane had been so occupied with the Pharaoh since Lucia started writing, that she was way behind on it, even more so than Sora and Mai who only visit every so often. Still, Lucia appreciated the effort.

"Well, to be honest, Nathaniel and I are still working out the details of our villain and supporting cast. But when we get to future arcs, I will consider that." She said.

Jane looked at Sora who was standing and leaning on his keyblade lazily.

"How was your lesson, by the way? Any luck yet?" He asked with a wink, referencing their conversation from earlier in the day. Lucia blinked.

"Sort of. Actually Sora, since you're here. I wanted to ask you of a huggeeeeee favour." She said.

Sora tilted his head and waited while Lucia sat up and put the pillow down in front of her, pressing it gently as if it were something of value.

"Would it be possible for you to go to Hyrule?" She asked. Jane's eyebrows rose and Sora blinked.

"Hyrule?" He asked, "What for?"

"I wanted you to pick something up for me there." She said.

"Like what!?" Jane said, surprised. Lucia squirmed.

"...Link told me there are some fabric patches of his in his old tree house. I think he'd like to have them."

"So why doesn't he go get them?" Jane wondered. Lucia frowned.

"Because he doesn't think it's important. I was sort of hoping to surprise him with it." She said.

Sora smiled. "I understand. That's very considerate of you," Sora said, recalling traveling realms for items as well for his friends, "I'd like to go but..."

Lucia worried. "But?"

"Well, I've never been to Hyrule." He explained, "I wouldn't know where to start."

"You can always go with Link." Jane said and Lucia protested.

"No! It's meant to be a surprise." She said. "Sora has to do this by himself."

Sora sighed. "I guess...I would have to Donald and Goofy at least. I can't go alone."

Jane blinked. "Why not? You've come here without them."

"Well, because this world was originally without magic. It's more predictable." He explained, "Hyrule is loaded with magic and I've never been there to lock it or make friends there who can help...It's like going in blind. Anything can happen."

Lucia frowned and Jane looked at her suspiciously. Why were these patches so important?

"So...you can't?" Lucia asked.

"That would depend on Donald and Goofy...but they have other things going on, I can't expect them to pick up and go for no reason other than to collect some patches." He said.

Jane sat up as well, "Lucia, do you know where Link's tree house is?"

Lucia put her hand to her face to think. "Well... I'm poor at giving directions. But I bet if saw the place, I'd be able to tell."

Sora crossed his arms. "If only you could go with me," He said, "Then we could be in and out of there quickly."

"You think?" Lucia wondered and Jane's eyes widened.

"Don't even think about it!" She said. "You can't go to Hyrule, are you nuts!?"

"You were going to go to Atlantica." She faught back.

"Yeah. To swim with mermaids. Did you forget what's at Hyrule!? Creatures, beasts, thugs, giant spiders, and Ganondorf!" She flipped, "And Sora's never been! I'll take Atlantica, for sure."

"Sora can handle anything we come across and besides," Lucia crossed her arms, "Link's tree house isn't in the danger zones."

Sora looked at Jane curiously, afraid to agree or disagree with Lucia as anything can tip Jane over. He knew she was refusing because of the Pharaoh. Damn it, why was she so loyal to him!?

"It's dangerous, Lucia." She said, "I can relate, I'd like to world travel too, but I don't think Hyrule is a good choice. Especially over some useless patches."

"They're not useless." Lucia said, fiddling her thumbs, "It would mean a lot to Link...plllleeeasssseee?"

Jane lay backwards on her bed and groaned. "I can't believe you're asking me this. The guys would lose their minds."

Sora cleared his throat. "Link and the Pharaoh have good intentions. And I would agree it would be dangerous to visit certain worlds. But if Lucia knows her way around, we can be in and out fast. It'll be like we never left."

Jane sat up again, "Sora. You don't know this girl. Her sense of direction is not reliable."

"If we take too long, we can come right back." Lucia said. "I may not be Donald and Goofy, but I know enough about the inhabitants of Link's world that will help Sora get the patches. I think we can do this. You don't have to come."

Jane covered her face with her hands and peaked at Lucia in between them. "Lucia, I am against you giong but I am even more against you going without me. Sora wont know what to do with you when you fail at explaining things. I'm your translator."

Lucia smiled. "Is that a yes?"

"No."

Sora groaned. "Are you worried I wont protect you there, is that it?"

"No I just..." Jane sighed with a frown and Sora cringed.

"You can't lie to him...can you?" He asked. When she didn't answer, Sora clenched his fist. From his perspective, it seems like the Pharaoh was much too controlling. Lucia crawled out of her bed to join Jane on hers.

"If you do this for me, I promise I will owe you. I really really really want those patches." She said, "Just like you wanted to get Yami that watch. I feel like...Link deserves it."

Jane's eyebrows dropped. "How dare you use that on me. That's not fair."

Sora laughed, "Well, an eye for an eye."

Jane looked at them and didn't want to be the one in the way of doing what they wanted. She hates being the one to decide things, some how it always fell on her. She sighed heavily...as she knew she would regret this.

"1 hour." She said. "We'll go but we're in and out of Hyrule in 1 hour! Understand?"

Lucia hugged Jane, thanking her several times in a row. Jane mentally prepared herself to handle the guilt from lying to Yami, but at least this time it wasn't a cheating lie. Sora smiled at her when he noticed she was going against him...for some reason.

"And when we come back, we never talk about this ever again. It'll be like it never happened!" Jane said.

"Deal!" Lucia said with her hands together, thinking of nothing but Link's face when he sees them.

"What's in it for you, by the way?" Jane asked Sora. He shrugged.

"I'm curious to see Hyrule." He said, "And the idea of Lucia owing me someday sounds like great blackmail material.

"Ha-ha," Lucia laughed sarcastically. Jane rolled her eyes.

"I'm not coming back without an heirloom though," She said. "This will be my only chance to ever see a world outside our own. So there's one more thing I want to do in addition to the patches, all in that hour!..."

Sora and Lucia waited, Jane opened one eye. "...I want to try a potion at Telma's Bar."

Sora blinked and Lucia laughed at Jane's cave.

"Sounds like a miraculous idea." She said.

* * *

 **WOAH took me hours to write thisssssss... so much set up but i LOVE IT!**


	21. Vol 3 Ch 5: The Hyrule Fortune Teller

" _Link told me of some fabric patches in his tree house. I think he'd like to have them."  
_

* * *

 _ **Savannah Georgia ~**_ _  
_ _  
Volume 3 – Chapter 5_ _: The Fortune Teller of Hyrule_

 _The house_  
 _Few days later_  
 _Jane's_ _P.O.V_

The immense guilt I felt hit me like a bomb when I jogged passed Yami down the stairs. He grabbed my arm before I was too far from him to stop me.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" I controlled my expression and turned around.

"The park with Lucia and Sora." I told him. He blinked.

"Let me know where you plan to be at all times, Jane." He said, "It'd provide me with peace in mind knowing you're safe."

I smiled at his perfection. I jumped a stair and kissed his cheek. "We're in Savannah Goergia. I'll be fine. Plus Sora is with us, what could happen?"

"Plenty." He told me seriously, probably trying to warn me not to get too comfortable or drop my guard, no matter how safe I feel. Always the over protector.

"You know, Atem, we haven't been taking full advantage of the summer." I said with a smile, "Why don't you and I go to the beach when I come back?"

Yami's hold on my hand seemed to relax a bit and he nodded. "That would be wonderful. Just you and I, I assume?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." I said, surprised how far we've come that I am able to say that with such confidence and honesty. He kissed me softly on the forhead, which was good since the stairs was a dangerous choice for anything more than that, and I began to head off. "I'll be back in about an hour, we won't be long."

I slipped on my black boots and head out the door. I hoped Yami didn't notice that I was dressed for more than an hour...according to Sora, time is slower here than in Hyrule, and an hour here is about 6 there, so I wore my comfiest tights and sweater and brought water and a pocket knife in my satchel for the trip. I hated that I had to lie to Yami, but something in me just felt that seeing another world was right. I didn't know what it was but...my mind said no and my gut said something is there I need to see.

I decided not to take the car as it wasn't far. I jogged down the stone path of the house and closed the gate behind me. I saw Sora and Lucia already waiting for me by the first main road, Lucia waving me down, also dressed similiarily to me but in lighter colors with runners and a cap instead of my pony tail. When I reached them, Sora put his hands behind his head and smiled.

"Are you ready?" He asked. Part of me hoped they'd talk me out of this. I was already lost in the plans.

"Are you?" I said. Lucia had a huge grin on with big wide eyes. I can see she was the most excited for this little experience...all to get her hands on a couple of patches. Part of me was annoyed by that, but another part of me understood.

We walked through the main road and made a turn into the park to let Sora do his thing. I looked at Lucia while he planned.

"So, where's Link today?" I asked. She sighed, nervous.

"He's working. Yami?"

"He's preparing for an afternoon with me later at the beach." I said, frowning. Lucia put a hand on my shoulder.

"I promise you'll be back in time for it." She said, "It'll be like we never left."

"Alright," Sora said, pointing his keyblade in the middle of the empty, but lovely park. "Let's go!"

Lucia and I held onto Sora, an arm each as wind blew past us and the keyblade revealed a large hole in mid air. It sparkled and thundered at the same time and Sora pulled his arms to drag us through. In what felt like barely 3 seconds, we were no longer in Savannah Goergia.

My eyes remained shut for most of it, seeing only Yami's beautiful face in my mind. I could feel the wind and smell of where I was was differ from usual, but it wasn't until Sora made me that I accepted it.

"Jane," He chuckled, shaking me where I was, "Come on, we're not even there yet, relax!"

The image of Yami dissapeared, and I opened one eye at a time to notice where we were. It was colorful and un real...it reminded me of some sort of play ground.

Lucia waved at me with a big smile, already buckled in her seat on the oposite side of Sora. I blinked.

"We're on the Gummi ship!" Lucia said in excitement, both Sora and Lucia smileing in my direction. I gasped when I noticed I was also sitting in a seat next to Sora, in Goofy's usual spot. Sora leaned over to my direction, buckling me in for me. I wondered if my face looked as hopeless as I felt.

"I promised, 1 hour." He said to reassure me. With those adorable and honest blue eyes, how could I doubt him? I trusted Sora with my life and my agreement to come was proof of that. I nodding back, returning to my usual self.

"Right." I winked, then looking at Lucia. "Let's get those patches!"

"Woohoo!" Lucia's cheer dissapeared in space as the engine roared and shipped us off to Hyrule.

* * *

 **Hyrule**  
 _Narator's P.O.V_

"Ouch!" "Eii!" The sound of bodies hitting the ground were evident when the Gummi ship dropped them off harshly in the new land. The tranquil sound of nature could only be heard again in the open space once the girls whining had settled. Luckily the three figures who were toppled over one another like rag dolls had fallen on a grassy area, thus making it a lot less painful then it could have been.

"Ah, sorry guys, sometimes the Gummi ship always has it's little quirks and...not so peaceful landings." Sora apologized as one by one he helped the girls up. His figure being without any sort of scratches or damage, they can only guess how used to it he was.

"Well I didn't expect an easy landing, but let's try avoiding returning home with a sprain or broken leg." Jane commented as she plucked some blades of grass from her hair. They were lucky the door opened pretty close to the ground or else they could have gotten majorly hurt. How would she explain that to the Pharaoh?

The other brunette at her side cleaning her glasses nodded in full agreement as they dusted themselves off, nodding Jane in thanks for picking up her hat for her.

"Now the question is…where do we start?" Sora commented as he took in his surroundings, crossing his arms as his gaze went across the open field that was a bright emerald green. While doing this he heard an audible gasp from Lucia beside him.

"Is that? What I think it is…?" Her surprise mixed with an almost airy tone, as her eyes widened at the sight. "Over there! That's Lon Lon ranch!"

As she said this the other two looked over to see there was indeed a small ranch a few steps away from where they had landed. A paddock showcasing the few horses and cows who were peacefully grazing, their well taken care of coats nearly shining in the sun. There was a small wooden stable closely beside the gate, and one small house not to far away where the caretakers of the animals lived with a tall wooden structure towered in front of the gates. Etched in the wood was a language that was supposed to be unfamiliar to the girls but the place itself was so familiar they didn't doubt this was indeed Hyrule.

"We did it! We made it! We're actually in another world!" Lucia squealed in excitement. Jane blinked in place, taking it all in and letting herself fall on the grass. Even the grass was softer in this realm.

"Wow….!" Jane said in amazement as her eyes swept across the beautiful creatures that roamed around the area. Sora also observed the area, visiting Hyrule for the first time and wondering how Donald and Goofy were doing.

"If I had my mini-map on and I faced this direction...I believe from here castle town would be straight ahead." Lucia murmured, referencing the game but speaking cautiously as she hesitantly tried to point out the direction from memory. Besides, even if she remembered correctly, this could be any version of Hyrule, so she may be completely wrong.

After a few minutes of her constant flexing of her index finger, heaving a sigh she looked at the duo in front of her.

"You know what? I'd rather not accidentally get everyone lost, I think the best way is to just start walking and ask a Hylian for directions."

"Well, how hard can it be to find a town that surrounds a giant castle?" Jane remarked, placing her hands on hips in a almost reassuring confident stance.

After a few minutes of going over their next move, they had begun their walk to their destination hopefully without too much trouble. Taking in the sights they came across, and discussing their plans for when they get to Hyrule's town market.

"I'm interested to explore the market, seeing everything with your actual eyes is so different compared to looking at it on a screen….like the same feeling of when I first saw Yami and Link." Jane said, a light nostalgia whirling her insides at the memory.

"It sure is, it's absolutely amazing!" Trying to stifle her near high-pitched squeal, Lucia's hands clasped together trying not to do their usual wild hand movements as they shook.

"I'm used to world hopping by now….but every time I come to a new one, it feels like the first time. I always wonder if I'll make just as many friends in this new place as I will the last one." Sora thought out loud.

"Well," Jane intervened, "There's no time to make friends this trip. We only have an hour in Savannah Georgia time to get Link's patches and return home."

Sora nodded, summoning his keyblade and resting it on his shoulders to reassure Jane that his focus is on the mission. "As promised."

Jane squirmed. She happened to notice that Sora always gave her his undivided attention when he spoke to her. She passed it as her imagination.

Since the party of three was slightly slower than Link would have been, it took quite awhile, almost to the point of worrying the girls if they took the wrong direction. However to their relief they soon saw dark blue spires towering high to the sky, almost like they were tall enough to touch the clouds above. The stone walls of the castle as well as the stone that surrounds the town looked clean as though it was polished daily. Jane and Lucia glanced at the moat that surrounded the entrance, slowly finding their way in front of the front gate, they were surprised to find two tall men standing guard of the main entrance. Jane tugged on Sora's short sleeve.

"Let's ask them for directions to Link's home town." She said in a hurry. Sora pulled out Jane's cell phone from her satchel to check the time. He revealed it to her.

"Jane, we've been in Hyrule for less than 40 minutes, but it's barely been 6 minutes in Savannah Georgia," He said, "We have so much time and you may never do this again. Let's explore a bit, ok?"

Jane's expression of worry relaxed a bit when Sora spoke to her and she surrendered. "Ok."

Lucia and Jane briefly glanced at each other as they could feel the men's suspicious glare underneath the shadow of their helmet.

"State your name, your business and where you are from." One of them said. Lucia could feel herself stiffen at the guards tone, they never actually planned for that did they? She could feel Jane at right step inches forward, clearing her throat briefly she then made full eye contact with a big smile.

"Hello there, I'm MJ, a travelling artist with my companions Lucia and Sora. I came on a journey to gather artistic inspiration from Hyrule Castle and it's Market town. Lucia is my guide, and Sora is my...escort. We're from Lon Lon Ranch." Jane said, her smile unfaulting as the half-truths spilled out effortlessly.

Sora wanted to laugh but held it in at all efforts. _An escort from Lon Lon Ranch?_ That sounded terrible.

"Humans…?" The guard commented noticing the trio's lack of elongated ears that the Hylians possess. It was pretty rare to see travelling humans, but he couldn't say it was impossible. Crossing his arms, moving a little more to the side almost nonchalantly his voice greeted.

"Welcome to Hyrule Castle. We have security all over the area just in case you're ill intended."

Thanking him as they went past they finally stepped into the gates of a place that was familiar in knowledge but to their eyes and ears were brand new. Castle town was absolutely thriving with people and shops of all sizes, colours and types. The girls eyes twinkled in fascination as their sight scanned every little thing while their uncontrollable feet pushed them to start exploring.

"Hey guys, if you are going to explore, stay close together." At his request they hooked arms in order for them to not be separated in the crowd. They glanced at him to see if their arrangements were good enough, and he just chuckled shaking his head in amusement. "Stay in front of me where I can see you, alright?"

The girls smiled and continued to look around, trusting Sora to keep watch as their body guard.

"Woah, there's all kinds of potion and equipment stores...They look so much bigger in person!" Lucia gasped as she pushed up her glasses, threatening to fall off her face.

"The bakery over there smells great~" Jane commented, although the treats themselves looked rather foreign she had to admit it they smelt divine, it also reminded her of the amount of walking it took to get here and how she could go for a snack.

She turned around to face Sora. "Sora, let's grab a bite before we le...Sora?"

She noticed that Sora hadn't been behind them anymore and for a brief moment and she panicked. She soon calmed down however, after noticing he just got stopped by a pushy salesman and he was trying to be polite. It wasn't much to get worked up over, but Jane planned to give Sora a strongly worded lesson about putting the mission before chivalry.

"Oh my, what brings you two girls here?" A pretty voice suddenly inquired, and at the sound, Lucia and Jane looked over to their side as an older woman clothed a dark purple robe sat in small little wooden stand. Faded pink paint stripped away at the Hylian letters, they could only guess from the illustrations of stars it maybe something with astronomy? The hooded woman smiled at them.

"We're just browsing," Jane said, avoiding to look like a tourist and not be ripped off by whatever it was she may be selling, but still trying to be courteous and making sure Sora was still in sight.

"You don't look like you're from around here, you'll make for an interesting reading." She asked with a smile, her head tilting ever so slightly as her half cover face watched the girls. "Would you like your fortune read?"

 _Oh, a fortune teller,_ Jane realized as she looked up at the sign again assuming that's what it said in Hylian. Then she looked at Sora again who now looked back. She gave him a dirty look and he waved his hand to let her know not to worry and that he's near.

"A fortune? Yes please!" Lucia replied excitedly, she was always a sucker for these types of things, though she felt Jane's tug at her arm.

"Lucia, we don't have any money…remember?" Jane said to her, loud enough for the woman to hear so she would not insist. This caused Lucia's brown eyes to widen in realization, remembering that this is a new world.

"Oh...Right...I forgot oops!" Her nose scrunched up in disappointment in herself for not realizing sooner.

"Oh, that's not a problem. I'm willing to offer a gift for first timers. It's free of charge." The woman giggled, causing both girls to look shocked.

"Are you sure?" Lucia asked curiously. "That's really nice."

"Sure, it's been awhile since anyone has come across my stall anyway…." The woman confirmed, her carefree tone seemed genuine as her hand moved in a _come hither_ motion.

"Would you like to go first?" She glanced at Jane from under the hood. Jane blinked and then looked at Sora who was testing the weight of a sword from a blacksmith stand, letting the seller check out the keyblade and probably talking about the function of the craft. She could see Sora wasn't leaving from there for a few minutes and, shrugging her shoulders, Jane quickly sat down on the small wooden chair that was present, not seeing any harm in getting her fortune read so long as Sora stayed put.

Revealing a worn out deck of cards, the woman's hands expertly shuffled them, her movements swift and precise, appearing the way that the best duellists handle their decks. She then took cards one by one and placed them face down on the table, the cards formed a small pyramid. Her fingers delicately flipped over the cards as if they would wither away with any harder grip, her shadowed eyes carefully watching which sides she flipped over while a smile played on her lips.

She hummed after all the cards were flipped, Jane and Lucia watched curiously at her reaction wondering what the old woman was thinking as she looked from card to card until she glanced back at Jane.

"You've had some interesting trials of love, haven't you? A lot of hurt emotions and indecisive feelings?" At this Jane blushed in embarrassment remembering all the drama that happened with Yuu and Yami. Nodding awkwardly at the older woman, the hooded woman smiled again.

"Everything will be just fine...You still have much to fight for...but little to fight with. There will be times that you or others will fail to know the truth, but always use your eye of wisdom if uncertain." The cryptic answer caused the girls to tilt her head in thought. "Also be wary of the butterflies…."

The woman's lips stretched into a kind smile, however the warning was a tad creepy in Jane's opinion.

' _Butterflies?' "_ What butterflies?" Jane asked. The woman did not respond and Jane looked at Sora again, wishing the boy was listening to this.

Picking up the cards, the woman began to shuffle again and then glanced at the other girl, or at least that's what one could only assume as the hood covered the woman's eyes in every movement she managed.

"Your turn now dear…" She commented looking at the be speckled girl next to Jane. Lucia took over Jane's seat and Jane leaned on the back of the chair. The woman proceeded to do the same with laying down the cards in the same format and flipping them one by one, humming as she saw each card on the table.

"You are in a similar situation as your friend no?"

At this Lucia tilted her head, her eyebrows knit in confusion at what the woman said.

"Umm….I don't think so? I mean I don't know much about love and all, though I do have someone I like…" Her love life was never really as drastic as Jane's dilemma with Yami and Yuu so she couldn't understand what the lady meant.

"Is that so? Well I will say that romance is in your near future, but also darkness…No matter how good something appears to be, things always have their bad entities."

Just as cryptic as Jane's answer it confused both girls once again.

"Well thank you for taking the time for reading our fortunes." Lucia said as she was getting up, both smiled brightly at the lady.

"You both of very welcome! Enjoy your stay, Young ladies. Always keep courage in your hearts, wisdom in your thoughts and power in your words…." She said with a giggle.

Jane and Lucia smiled for the Triforce. Before bidding the old woman goodbye, Lucia noticed another deck of cards next to the woman, although currently exposed, they were in perfect condition unlike the cards she used. The pink so bright it looked like they were made the day before, beautiful detail of stars and such. Unlike most tarot cards they were strangely elongated and Lucia felt they were so strangely familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on it. It was on the tip of her tongue ready to jump off she just needed to say it. Her fingers, delicately picked it up flipping over the top card. Revealing the beautifully drawn image of a woman, the gorgeous lady with flowing locks of curly hair who's length was so long that it was hidden by the pink frame that was adorned by the sun and moon. Her peaceful expression brought a smile to Lucia's face.

" _The Light"_ It read, before she could even utter a word a strong wind picked up suddenly, causing one of the cards from the pink deck to fly away, heading towards Jane's direction, who was paying attention to Sora.

"Jane! The card!" Lucia's panicked voice shouted as her eyes widened at the thought of one of these beautiful cards simply flying away. Thankfully, Lucia's call caught Jane's attention, and she caught it just in time as it almost went past her. The wind abruptly died down which caused the girls to sigh in relief thankful that not one card got lost. Walking towards the booth to return both cards Jane glanced at the one she held.

" _The Watery"_ A cute small mermaid was on it with a slightly stern expression, fin like appendages wrapped around her as if she was hugging herself. The only thing that differed from all the pink was the blue scale like headband on her forehead. Small orbs that could either be pearls or bubbles intertwined with her hair looked very interesting.

Returning the two cards to pile where they belong, the woman smiled in gratitude.

"Thank you girls! I don't know what I would do if one of my precious cards got lost…"

"You are very welcome. We must be on or way, thanks for the fortune." Jane replied as they started to slowly make their way to Sora.

"Have a good day! Thank you" Lucia said waving to the old lady, as the girls turned in the other direction the woman's hood hiked up revealing glimmering green eyes.

"Have a good day girls…Please take care of yourselves." ...

When the girls reached Sora, Jane pulled a strand of his spiky hair, not enough to hurt him, just to pick on him.

"Sora!" She said, "I thought you'd be right behind us."

Sora scratched his hair where it was tugged. "I was right behind you! You were over there by that space booth." He said. The girls laughed and he crossed his arms.

"We were getting our fortunes read." Lucia said. Sora jumped.

"Fortunes!? Cool!" He said, looking at the direction they came and failing to see the funny starry table. "That's weird, it's gone."

Jane blinked, completely shocked that the woman and her cards had disappeared. Where did she go?

"Oh well," Jane said, in a hurry anyway. "Time to go."

When Jane began making her way deeper into the market, Lucia and Sora blinked.

"Uh, Jane?" Sora said, "The exit is this way."

Jane crossed her arms and flipped her hair.

"You guy's promised me a drink at Telma's bar." She said, "So move it."

The other two laughed.

* * *

Jane and Sora followed Lucia who was leading them through the wooden path in the trees. Both Sora and Jane still held their drinks from Telma's who, since they all knew Link, was gracious to offer them free. With Telma's directions to Kokiri forest, it wasn't long now before they would be able to return home. Lucia was also given a small map from Telma to help them on their way, constantly looking to and from it as they walked. Jane enjoyed the sound of a nearby river, matching the pace of her sips with it.

"I got the sudden urge to swim for some reason..." She said. "How much time do we have left, anyway?"

"We've been in this realm for about 3 hours, so that's about 20 minutes in Savannah Georgia." Sora explained. Jane winced.

"We're almost at our half way point." She worried, "But all that's left is to get the patches, and leave. No more exploring, no more side stops and no- ARGH!?"

Jane threw herself backwards simultaneously with Lucia when their paths were blocked by an unexpected creature.

"Skulltula?!" Was all that Lucia could manage to shout out as a shiver ran up her spine, if it's one thing she said she could hate, it was spiders. These huge spiders being even more fearsome than your standard house spider. Being at least 1000x the size of them, these Skulltula's seemed to appear closer to the one from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, meaning that along with their already creepy appearance their hard shell had the appearance of a creepy skull, with gaping black eyes, nose and mouth.

"Why are they here?!" Jane complained as she backed away slowly, her eye twitched from how gross and creepy they looked. "This is the last thing we need. I'm on a time crunch!"

"Get behind me!" Sora's voice boomed as the bright light coming from his trusty Keyblade being summoned freaked out the large arachnids, causing them to move backwards slightly and the girls hurried to hide behind the brown haired male. "Should I destroy them!?"

"Duh!?" Jane yelled, not caring if innocent or not. They're too creepy.  
Sora waited for Lucia to confirm as she was the one with the best understanding of Hyrule.

"Yes!" Lucia said in a panic, "Take them out!"

Sora leaped high into the air as more Skulltala climbed down with their webs, shaken a little as Sora leaped above one of them. Creating a perfect hit with Keyblade, the sound of it hitting it's shell, he flipped backwards to land softly on the ground. He noticed the creepy crawler had also landed perfectly swiftly.

"What?! No damage?" He questioned seeing the spider like creature unamused and unhurt by what should have been a critical hit.

"Sora! The belly is it's weak spot!" Lucia shouted as Jane pulled her behind a tree near by, keeping watch so no more Skulltula's could surprise attack him. It was the only thing they could manage to help with at the moment, and it pained them to know they couldn't do much else...

When Jane noticed one in the tree above their heads, the largest they had every seen! She squealed pathetically, pushing Lucia away from their shelter. Sora glanced for just a second to see what she was worried about, offered a strike at the current spider he was facing and hopped over to the girls to defend them from the new comer. Jane shook Sora's shoulder, pointing at many others closing in and Sora gave her a reassuring nod that he had this in the bag. He used his thunder magic, taking care of all the smaller Skulltula's, and scarring the larger ones, knocking the largest out of the tree.

"Yeah!" Jane cheered, Lucia laughing in awe watching Sora take care of them.

The Skulltula hissed at him defensively before trying to launch at him, he managed to swiftly dodge by side stepping. As it was trying to turn around with it's web for a few seconds and that's when it revealed it's underside. That was all Sora needed to strike it down.

With a soft grunt, Sora managed to flip the largest monster with the tip of his keyblade, finally being able to strike the underside where it was really soft. Defeating it in one hit, he looked for those that remained, but they had run away from him now that their friend had perished by the keyblade wielder.

The girls found themselves gaping at him quietly looking at each other before squealing how cool Sora was. He looked at the girls with a smile, particularly to Jane with a twinkle in his eye, happy to have shown her what he's capable of.

"You alright?" He asked. The girls lunged at him with hugs, knocking him to the ground. "Hey!"

"That was freakin' awsome!" Lucia said, all three still on the ground. Jane tugged at his hair again.

"Sora!" She said, "You're amazing!...and my official spider crusher. We find them around now and then at home."

Lucia giggled, sitting up off Sora. "Just don't blast those with thunder bolts. The guys would have a fit."

Sora blinked, waiting for Jane to get off as well. She hummed and let herself off when she noticed she hadn't and rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry!" She said, laughing. "Those things give me the creeps. Being close to you feels safe, right Luch?"

Lucia nodded while picking up the map she had dropped on the ground from the Skulltula surprise.

"Alright, back to it." She said. Jane gasped.

"ARGH!" She squealed, both Sora and Lucia jumping, ready for another attack. "How much time do we have?"

Sora and Lucia fell anime style.

"You asked barely 10 minutes ago." Sora said, forcing Jane to turn around and touching the tip of the keyblade to her back and pushing her forward.

"I'm sorry, but I got a date." She said. Sora flinched and positioned himself in front of Jane instead, annoyed. Another date with the Pharaoh already and they haven't even returned yet. Walked ahead in his usual, large footed strut, pretending not to care. When Lucia saw the direction he lead blindlessly, she pointed at what looked like Kokiri forest with a smile.

"Oh! We have arrived at our destination," She said. Jane smiled.

"Finally. Let's hope they're there."

* * *

Later, back in Savannah Georgia

 _Beach_

"I am very happy that you decided to come," Yami said, walking along the warm sand with his hand firmly griped to his favourite person. Jane sighed as she joined him, lucky that the beach was nearly deserted and could enjoy the Pharaoh's company, wearing a beach like twist of his ancient slacks. She currently had a fresh summer dress on, feeling amazed how her absence in the town the last hour seemed like complete fantasy.

"Of course," She said, wishing to share the experience with him. She didn't need to worry. It was the first and last time she would ever do something like that.

"You must understand how why a part of me still worries about us." He said, mostly due to the mistake of making a deal with the Dark One, but also because of her history in hurting him. "So moments of reassurance such as this truly offers me some peace."

Jane nodded, frowning at first than smiling. "I know. It'll pass, I promise thing's are different now."

The king rubbed her hand and Jane blinked. "Oh yeah, that reminds me, your birthday is just a few weeks away."

Yami smiled. "Yes it is."

"I already have your gift, you know." Jane said, "Had it for like a month now."

Yami blinked, surprised. "Really?"

"Mhm," She blushed, squishing her toes in the sand. "I was going to give it to you sooner as an apology for worrying you so much...but since Sora's come around, I haven't found the right opportunity."

The Pharaoh brushed his hand on her cheek, the wind a perfect force on them. "I don't need anything from you, my queen. Your loyalty is all I ask."

"I know..." She said, touching his bare chest with her hand and looking at it. "That's why I want to do something really nice for your birthday. What did you do in ancient Egypt?"

Yami chuckled. "I don't think we can possibly accommodate something of that extravagance."

Jane also laughed, "I know, but maybe there was something you looked forward to specifically, like...a specific dish? A certain place...type of music? I mean, did anything stand out?"

Yami put a finger to his chin. "It was everything in itself that made celebrations in Egypt truly unique." He said, "But here, all I would like is an evening at home with my family...and a few of rounds in Duel Monsters, of course."

"Oh, we can't forget that, now can we." Jane answered. "And Yugi's presence is a must."

"It would not be a celebration without Yugi." He said. The Pharaoh was always good at hiding his emotions, but the more his relationship with Jane grew, the less he hid from her. She could sense in his voice that he missed Yugi very much, and leaned in for a hug to comfort him.

They stayed in that position for several minutes, enjoying the cool breeze, the sound of the water and the warmth of each other. They looked at different directions and they stayed close, thinking of entirely different things. Yami held her to him, thanking the Gods for the moment and wishing for many more.

Jane also appreciated Yami, as she loved him more than anything in the world...but her attention span was short. She looked out toward the water, noticing it glistening and feeling strange...it sparkled against the sun and it made her feel like the sparkles were little tiny specks of laughter in the distance, and she suddenly began to see moldable shapes in the waves. She had an urge to go for a dive and stay under for the rest of the day. She didn't realize it, but she had been starring into the ocean extremely intently...

"Jane?" Yami asked, "Jane, are you alright?"

Jane blinked and returned her gaze to the Pharaoh. "Yeah, just day dreaming."

Yami's third eye chimed and, though it was weak, he could sense she was feeling unsure of something. It could just be hormonal, she is a woman after all...but it's always good to remain on guard.

"Jane," He started, "I love you so much."

Jane couldn't smile this time, he said it with such strength as if no other fact was more true than that.

"I cannot say it enough times to match how I feel." He added, desperate to hold onto her despite what he had done. Jane put her arms around his neck, impressed with herself for remaining cool after hearing her long time crush saying that, and happily met the Pharaoh half way for kiss.

As they remained on cloud 9 with each other, part of Jane couldn't help but wonder...how Lucia was doing with those patches.

* * *

Mean while...

"How did you..." Link was in complete shock when he saw them. He had jus returned from work and began to play video's games with Junior in their room, innocently in PJ's when Lucia let herself in. She was embarrassed at first, but Sora gave her a supportive push into the Hylian's dorm and, after small talk, was able to reveal them.

"Are you happy?" She asked, worried when Link dropped the controller and hovered over what she held. It was the very same red patches he had described.

"These are..." He blinked, feeling them for the first time in nearly 8 years. Junior whined for the sudden negligence of the game.

"I got them for- I mean! I had Sora pick them up for you." She said, scratching her cheek. Sora smiled from the hall, leaning against the wall and out of sight before leaving the area to offer them privacy. Link could hear his moves loud and clear and appreciated it.

"Why did you do that?" Link grunted. Lucia blushed.

"Because...your story was very sad and I really wanted you to have them. It was important." She said.

Link could only feel a rush of nostalgia looking at the names _Link_ and _Junior,_ remembering when he found Junior all those years ago. He hadn't thought about it before because it was easier...but Lucia really had a way with making him go deep...and now, even though he hadn't before, he felt closer to his parents and most of all, closer to Lucia. He couldn't believe how important his problems were to her and he never felt more loved in his entire life.

"Thank You." He said, throwing his arms around Lucia. She quickly hugged back without a second thought, feeling so happy that he was happy and...the fact that he wasn't dark made the moment all that much sweeter.

Then she remembered.

Link said that, next time she spoke to him, to remind him what he said when he was dark. She cleared her throat and prepared for bravery. This moment was the perfect tim-

"What are those?" Junior asked when he saw Link clenched on to the patches. The older elf smiled.

"They're gifts from our parents, buddy." He said, "They made them before they went away."

Junior looked at his and waved it, unimpressed.

"They're just name tags." He said. Lucia chuckled.

"They're special name tags!" She said, "To make sure you and your brother are always safe! And..." She paused, with a finger to her chin, constantly bending before her thought, as a usual Lucia quirk, "I'm going to sew them on your hats."

Link blinked. "Really?"

"I don't have a hat, only my hoodie." Junior crossed his arms. Lucia smirked.

"That's what I meant," she said, holding her hands out to the boys. Junior quickly removed his hoodie, revealing his adorable bare tummy as he gave it to her.

"Ok!" He said with a big smile. Link hesitated...removing his hat was something he was very self conscious about. He grunted, but gave in, giving Lucia his hero's hat and embarrassingly undoing the _hat mark_ that shaped his hair form wearing it for hours at a time. Lucia took the hat and when Junior rubbed his tummy as he walked back toward the game, she did one of the bravest things she had ever done.

She put a hand on his shoulder, stretched on the tips of her toes and kissed Link on the cheek.

"I'll have them ready soon, k?" She said, wanting to remind him of what he said but...ran out of courage. But her courage did ignite a happiness in Link that brought his Triforce to shine on his left hand. He smiled when he noticed.

"The light of Courage." He said, thinking it probably came through for both of their courage the last few days. Lucia froze, looking at the golden light with mesmerizing eyes. Had it always glowed like that before? It was making a sound like the sound you hear when your ears are ringing...and the Triforce seemed to be absorbing her in, she couldn't help but touch Link's hand where it glowed.

"Lucia?" His voice was useless. She only starred, her hand hovering over his like a magnet resistance.

"Luch?" He tried again and she snapped out of it. "You ok?"

She blinked. "Yeah, just day dreaming."

Link sighed with a smile. "You've been acting bizarre today. Should I be worried?"

She giggled. "No, no! Everything is fine. I'm gonna sew these up and I'll see you at dinner ok?"

Before she could leave, Link grabbed her arm to stop her, being gentle and acknowledging his strength.

"Thanks again, Luch." He said, "I couldn't ask for a better gir...well you know."

 _Girl._ Lucia thought, happy that he said it first, "Yeah...I know."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you to my friend Lucia who helped write this one~ Yes the Lucia that character "Lucia" is inspired by! Lot's fun and man this is a hug set up for something...I wonderr what those cards mean.**


	22. Vol 4 Ch 1: Only Sora Knows?

_You have little to fight with...Beware of the Butterflies..._

* * *

 **Savannah Georgia~**  
 _Vol 4 Ch 1: Only Sora Knows_ **  
** _Sora's P.O.V_

It was mid-day on the beach and the sun was shining brightly, just enough so its powerful rays wouldn't over heat the sparkling sand on the shore. The ocean waves danced below the singing seagulls and splashed against the rocks of the edge of the living landmass. Suddenly, the smoothness of the sand was unperfected by a large foot in a sneaker decorated with gold-yellow straps, pushing back against the gravel and taking off. I launched myself at Link, pushing all of my strength into my Keyblade to land a good hit. He laughed when he barely dodged the blow and pushed me with his forearm into the warm sand.

"Hey, Link! I thought we agreed , blades only." I said, sitting upright with my legs crossed.

"So, I got a little carried away." He said, sitting down next to me. "Take it as a compliment, you're good. I couldn't help it."

I never expected Link to be as skilled as he was, he heavily reminded me of Riku...always kickin' my butt. Sometimes I got the advantage but it was clear why I wasn't a keyblade master yet. I responded with a pathetic smile and leaned back supporting my weight on my palms, breathing in the clean air and aroma of baked goods of the nearby snack bar. It has just been barely 2 days since I returned from Hyrule with the girls and I am relieved to say, it's like it never happened. I never expected when I crossed to this world to be growing so attached to this town and barely ever leaving...only to visit home, Donald, Goofy and the King. My mind was quickly wandering from world to world, revisiting all of my friends when my thoughts were interrupted.

"Come on, Sora." Link said with his friendly smile. "Just because it's a Friday afternoon, doesn't mean we should be slacking off."

"Thanks for helping me maintain my training, Link." I said, "I wouldn't be able to stick around as much if I couldn't."

He just grunted in response. It's something he does.  
 _  
We shouldn't be slacking off_...I didn't consider my training slacking...but I knew that Link was referring to neglecting the chores that awaited him at home...or rather, us. It's not my place, but being around as much as I am, I am expected to help. I don't mind of course, the routine did start when I volunteered to, after all. I frowned when the sand under my shoes turned into concrete and the nostalgia from the islands disappeared. I wasn't in the mood to help clean up and if I was with anyone other than the mature Link, I'd probably whine a bit about it. Especially that the only reason we can't put it off for later is because everyone knows that the Pharaoh expects order...

That Pharaoh...Yami or Atem, everyone has a different way of addressing him but, of course, I'm expected to use _Pharaoh_. Something about him really rubs me the wrong way. I've been around for over a month now and he's been kind to me up until now but part of me always felt like I was a nuisance to him...like he doesn't like me. He doesn't take my training seriously...has a problem with me if I hang around too many days at a time...and he almost forbids me from discussing anything about my life or experiences. I can't say he stops me from doing anything, but it definitely causes tension between us when I can't be myself in his presence. If I ask anyone about it, they just tell me that he has everyone's best interests in mind and to just do what he says. Which is fine I guess, he doesn't treat me different, he's even worried about my safety at times but...I can't help but suspect he wishes I didn't exist.

I remember when I first met him. After I had come through the attic of their home and landed on Jane, he rushed home really quickly worried about her. Link was cleaning up the mess I made and I told him and his friends who I was and what I was doing there and, at first, Jane was very distant. She didn't look at me for very long and wasn't the least bit interested in me like the others were. She was just in a hurry to see the Pharaoh and when he came home, I saw him for the first time when we met eyes in the hall. He was surprised at first and then immediately treated me like a threat, interrogating me without any regard of being fair and answering questions that I had for him. After he realized I meant no harm, he seemed to be able to relax for a while and talk about it better. His hostility only started up again when I wanted to take the girls with me to visit Atlantica.

I groaned at my thoughts. That's another thing about him that irks me. He's Jane's _boyfriend_. It's hard for me to say the words out loud and whenever I see them together I feel sick to my stomach. I have seen many relationships during my adventures, but nothing like theirs. It was weird enough that they were cross-dimensional, but the Pharaoh seems so controlling, it's bizarre. I can't even believe that Jane is ok with the way he dictates everything in her life and sometimes I wonder if she goes along with it because she doesn't know any better...or, it could be her first relationship...or maybe she feels subjected to obey because he's a King.

 _Sigh._ I just don't find them compatible. Since I've gotten to know her the last month, I've realized how exciting she can be when she's not shackled down by orders. She always wants to play, and to laugh and to explore...she also happens to be very cute. I don't think much of it usually, but it was the first thing I noticed when I crossed into this realm. But I've gotten to know her beyond that, especially recently. I found out her whole name is Mary Jane. I called her MJ once, I don't think she seemed to mind it.

Link was quiet as we walked home, his sword in sheath and looking straight ahead. It wasn't awkward being with Link even when no one was talking, it was probably one of my favourite things about him. Link is also strange at times, you can tell he has secrets as well, which is fine, I have plenty of them myself...buuuttt I do get curious. I know one of his not-so-secret secrets is that he's got a thing for Lucia. I think they're going steady now, I am not really sure.

I frowned. I bet Link and the Pharaoh would be pretty disappointed in me if they knew I took their girlfriends to Hyrule. I couldn't take all the fault, but I still feel guilty for betraying their trust like that. I didn't think I would feel this way, but the kindness they've shown me and the way Link has been helping me train with the little time he has off work, I've gotten more respect for them and so...I've made a promise to myself that I won't ever betray them again.

 _Beep Beep_

"Huh?" I was surprised when my phone went off. It's not something I'm used to using but the Pharaoh gave it to me so I can remain in contact with everyone in this realm. I pulled it out of my red pocket on my right and looked at the screen. It was from Mary Jane.

 _I need you Sora!_ It said. I blushed as that sounded...weird. Link saw the message and raised a brow.

"What's that about?" He asked. I shrugged, as confused as he was.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's Lucia pranking me." He assumed.

 _Beep Beep_

 _RIGHT NOW!_ She said in another text. My eye's widened in the surprise.

"I think she needs my help with something." I said, replying with a basic coming home message.

"What sort of help would she need from you that she can't get from the Pharaoh?" Link questioned. My guess was as good as his, I couldn't imagine what it could be.

"I'll call her." I decided as the phone rang while we continued to walk at a regular pace. It only rang once before she picked up.

"Sora..." She said, "Where are you?"

"I'm with Link walking back now. Is everything ok?" I asked.

"I need you to help me, and _only_ you! Please hurry!" She sounded desperate but she was whispering...like she didn't want anyone to hear her.

"Ok, I'll be there as soon as I can." I said and hung up. I waved my arm to gesture Link to follow. "Come on, Link. Let's go."

I began to run instead and he followed me. With our stamina, we made it to the house pretty quickly and neither of us were out of breath.

When we got to the house, Link unlocked the door and we found the Pharaoh just coming downstairs in the middle of reading a book. I didn't pay much attention to what he was reading, but I was surprised to find that he seemed normal.

"You're early." He said as a greeting to us as Link and I slipped off our shoes.

"Where's Jane?" Link asked. The Pharaoh blinked.

"...She's upstairs working in her room. Why?" He asked.

Of course he needs to know why. No one can ask about her without giving him a reason. I ignored them both and jogged upstairs to the girls room as soon as my feet wore the guest slippers. I knew they'd follow me, so I wanted to learn what was wrong before that happened. I rushed to their room and saw that she wasn't there.

"MJ?" I looked around before I noticed the bathroom door was shut and I could heard shuffling in there. I quickly ran to the door and knocked. "MJ, are you in there?"

"Sora! Yes, come in!" She said quietly. When I opened the door, I peaked my head in only at first, slowly to make sure it was appropriate for me to be where I was. Jane was laying on the ground, back facing up. The floor was damp with spilled water and she looked nervous, worried for sure. Her hair was soaked like she had just came out of the shower but it also had changed. It had gold and blue highlights...shimmering. She even had a seashell decorated bra on, but despite all these strange observations, the first and most crazy thing I noticed was that her legs were gone, both replaced with this huge, long, sparkly and vibrant gold fish-like tail. All gold, highlighted blue, and spreading out into the wide fluke. I've seen similar before. Different, but similar concept. I knew exactly what I was looking at. MJ had become a mermaid. I gasped in the single second I noticed all of this.

"W-what happened!?" I asked concerned. Then at that second, I heard the others closing in. I panicked, not wanting them to see her this way or me at her bathroom door for that matter. The first thing I did was let myself in the bathroom and shut the door behind me and locking it.

"What are you doing!?" She whispered loudly when she heard them coming.

"Uh-" I stuttered, "I didn't want them to be suspicious."

"And you being in here isn't suspicious!?" She said angrily. She was right, it was a stupid move but it was too late now.

"Sora?" Link said from the other side of the door. "I heard you go in there. What are you doing?"

MJ put a finger to her lips desperately.

"Uhh..." I had never felt more pressure than this before. I tried to come up with some kind of answer, but I had nothing!

"Don't worry Link, just give us a minute. I just needed Sora's help with something." Jane said for me.

"With what?" We heard the Pharaoh's deep suspicious voice and a chill went down both our spines, for sure. Jane sunk her face in her hands with guilt. I turned to her with a cupped hand by my face and barely whispered as quietly as I could, it was more just moving my lips if anything.

"How did this happen?" I asked. She pathetically reached for the blow dryer on the counter near me, so I plugged it in and passed it to her. I thought it was initially to mask the sounds of our voice, but when she turned it on, she started drying her hair.

"I was just about to take a shower and a few seconds after getting in, I turned into this!" She said frustrated. I knew this definitely had to do with our trip to Hyrule. What else could it be? Did bringing a non magical being to a magical world come with side effects? I grabbed the towel and started drying the floor and her scaly, slimy tail. I was almost hesitant due to boundaries, but desperate times calls for desperate measures. I began opening cupboards and drawers as well, ignoring the girls privacy of their things and taking anything I could find to cover her up.

Another knock on the door. "Open the door, Jane. We can help too." Link said. My front bangs were beginning to dampen from sweating from the effort. Jane furiously blow dried her hair and I wondered if she was doing that because it would look bad having me in here with her all wet and stuff.

"Sora, open the door, or I will." Link said in the Pharaoh's honour. Jane's hair was dry and she turned off the machine and tossed it aside, then helping me in covering her tail. It looked like a pathetic attempt but it was all we could do. I positioned myself in front of her to shield her a bit better and before we knew it, Link forced the lock open with his strength and the door was open.

By some miracle, the tail was gone.

Link and Yami stood at the door and I put my arms behind my head and smiled.

"See? Nothing to worry about." I said, even though Jane was under all the towels now, completely nude. I shrieked when I noticed. Her hair and everything was back to normal but so was the fact she was in the shower before this. Lucky the towels all shielded her enough from everyone.

"Uh, Sorry, MJ!" I said, turning away and walking past the other two so I was out of the bathroom.

"MJ...?" The Pharaoh said under his breath with a bitter tone. My curiosity looked back with the corner of my eye and I saw Link nod to the king and leave past me, just as the Pharaoh rushed in to help her up. He nearly closed the door entirely behind him but I went to it to listen through the crack.

"Are you alright?" He said. I could here shuffling and only assumed she was on her feet now.

"Yeah. Sorry, Atem." She said.

"What was Sora doing in here with you this way?" He said, "That is completely inappropriate!"

I shivered. He'll probably hate me more now.

"It wasn't anyone's fault. I just slipped and he was the closest person to help me out." She said, "He was...scared to come out because he didn't want you to assume the worst."

She's a good liar. I sighed.

"...Alright," The king said. "Do you need anything else? And please call _me_ if you do."

"Of course." She said , "But I'm fine, really."

When I heard them about to come out, I quickly screeched aside the floor when I rushed to sit on Lucia's bed and pretended to be reading her... _dating sim manual?_ Aw, lame.

The king came alone, ignoring me and letting himself into the girls walk-in closet. He grabbed some of MJ's clothes and met her in the bathroom again. I pursed my lips. He sure knows his way around her things...I wonder how long they've known each other for.

Jane came out with the Pharaoh a few seconds later and sighed. "Thanks for checking on me, Sora."

She looked nice with her curtain like shirt. I smiled, "Sure."

"I'm going to go downstairs and prepare lunch while Link cleans up." The Pharaoh said, holding one of Jane's hands. "Is there anything specific you'd like to eat?"

"No," She shook her head. "Prepare what ever you like, I'll be down soon."

I watched like a fool when the Pharaoh touched her face sweetly before making his way out.

"Sora," he said, "Don't forget your part. The guest room could use a once over." He said. I frowned.

"Yes, your majesty." I said, not sarcastically but it may as well have been. I think he noticed and didn't want him to be angry with me so, just in case, I saluted with a stiff posture and said it again. "Uh, I mean, YES Pharaoh!"

When he was gone, Jane jogged to her door and shut it before turning around to face me.

"What the HELL was that!?" She said to me. I let myself fall back on the lavender sheets.

"That was close." I said, "I was worried you'd be like that permanently."

"It's because we went to Hyrule, isn't it?" Jane complained, stomping her foot. "I knew going was a bad idea. That Lucia and her puppy dog eyes."

I laughed at that then crossed my arms while I stood up. "But what in Hyrule could have triggered this? A mermaid is oddly specific for just a world travelling side effect..."

"I don't know, but how can I avoid this from happening again!? If Atem ever sees me like that he'll know that we went to another world. He'll banish you to the shadow realm and then I'll never hear the end of it." Jane whined. I looked up at the high ceiling of her room and hummed in thought, trying to think what it could be.

"You better give Lucia a call!" I said with a sudden realization. "She could be experiencing the same thing and may need our help."

* * *

Lucia's School

 _Narrator's P.O.V_

Lucia was immensely confused and she didn't know what to think. When she reaches in her bag, her hand lights up like a freakin' glow stick! She remained quite in her group of friends who were currently having their lunch break but using the time to buy supplies at the campus store. She was with Alya and Marionette, luckily both distracted by a squealing Marionette because Adrian had happened to join them. Adrian Agreste was the son of the fashion designer that Alya had described. Also conveniently named after another character in Lucia's story, but a tad different. He was here as a model and was very good looking and kind. The girls usually caught him alone when he wasn't hanging with his fencing team and, since Marionette had such a huge crush on him, was able to convince Lucia to ask him to hang with them.

But Lucia had bigger problems right now... and she hoped that her glowing hand was all in her head. Then a Yugioh sound track went off and Lucia answered her ringing cell phone to talk to Jane.

"Hello?" She said, watching the 3 friends walk ahead of her.

 _Lucia! Are you alright?_ Jane asked, clearly from speaker because she could hear Sora asking the same thing as well in his own words.

"Yeah I'm ok..." She said, not wanting to explain with company. Sora took the phone.

 _Have you noticed anything strange, lately?_ He said, _'Cause MJ has found herself turning into a mermaid!_

Lucia blinked. "Huh?" Was all she could say. She watched Adrian pay for his purchases and excused herself from the shop without the girls noticing. "Come again?"

 _A Mermaiid!_ Jane yelled, causing Lucia to lower the volume on her phone from the deafening pain. _I don't know if I should be psyched or freaked out, because Atem almost saw me and now he thinks Sora was tryna mess around with me in the bathroom!_

 _Uh.._. Sora stuttered, _What she said._

Lucia blinked. "That makes absolutely no sense, you guys!" She complained.

 _Beep Beep_

Lucia's Phone rang again. "Hang on, guys. Other line...Hello?"

 _Yo!_ Hey Lucia, It was Joey. _I'm comin' ova with Yug and Devlin tonight, but the Pharaoh said you aint home. What's up?_

Lucia sweat dropped. "Sorry, Joey. I'm in class and I...might be going out later with Sora and Jane."

 _Nyeh? That's a funny trio_... he said, _Well, fine but ya gotta say hi to Mai, she's drivin' me crazy._

 _Oh really?_ Mai said in the back ground, _All I said was I was craving watermelon, Joseph. It's not the end of the world..._

Lucia laughed. "We'll see ya later, I gotta go!...Jane?"

 _Just me, the Pharaoh called her down._ Sora said.

"Sora, something is weird. It's Hyrule for sure. We gotta make an excuse to leave the house to talk about it." Lucia explained, "Joey and Yugi are stopping by later today and we got to get to bottom of this as soon as possible."

 _Joey and Yugi? Aw, I'd really like to stay and see them..._ Sora whined. _But you're right, I'll let Jane know so she can think of an excuse to leave._

"Just tell him you're going with her to pick me up at school or something." Lucia thought.

Sora sighed, _I don't know, after what just happened, I think I'm on the Pharaoh's bad side for a while._

Lucia groaned. "Why!? What did you do?"

 _I'll explain later. We'll update you with plans as soon as we have them_. Sora hung up.

Lucia sighed, constantly checking her hands in fear they'd glisten at random.

"Lucia?" Adrian met her outside. "You ok?"

Lucia put her phone away and smiled. "Yeah, fine!..I just might have to skip my next class."

"How come?" He asked.

"I have some family stuff to tend to." She said, looking at Marionette coming and waved goodbye to her and Alya from a distance, "You should...walk Marionette to her next class. I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

Adrian blinked. "Oh. Sure, good idea."

Lucia sped walked out of there and Adrian watched with concern.

"So you still couldn't bring yourself to ask her, huh?" A tiny voice said. Adrian sighed.

"Stay down, Plagg! They'll see you!" He said. The little black kwami hide under Adrian's jacket and groaned.

"But I'm hungry! And I know I didn't imagine it. That girl lit up. You may need to transform again sooner than you thought." He said.

"Shh!" Adrian said, closing the flap of his jacket.

"Adrian?" Alya said, "Were you talking to someone?"

"Heh, just myself," He said with a sweet shrug.

* * *

Later at The House  
 _Late after noon_

Jane quickly rushed passed her guests and put a light summer jacket on.

"Are you sure ya gotta go?" Joey asked, sitting in the lounge with everyone; Duke, Yugi, The Pharaoh, Link, and Junior. Jane smiled. How times have changed. She hadn't see them all together in a while...

Then she frowned. "I'm sorry, I promised Lucia to go art supply shopping with her. I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."

With that, she blew a kiss to them all, specifically the Pharaoh and let herself out. She sent a quick text to Sora, letting him know she was headed to Lucia's area.

When Sora got the message, he rushed down the stairs and abruptly tried to stop when he noticed all the guests, his socks sliding across the hall and colliding into the front door.

"Are you ok?" Yugi worried.

"Hey! Sora, my little man." Duke said, having met him only once, standing up and giving a props to Sora that he was expecting. "What's the rush?"

Sora scratched his head nervously, surprised to see all of the Pharaohs friends. "I just...forgot something at the beach earlier. I'm gonna go grab it."

"What did you forget?" Link asked, attempting to recall. Sora stuttered.

"My...Wayfinder. I think I dropped it during training." He said.

"Well hurry up, alright? It's been a while!" Joey said from the couch.

Sora strapped on his sneakers and hummed to confirm. "Sure!"

When he was gone, the others all looked to the king with questioning expressions and he remained poker faced. "He's a strange boy, but he means well." He said.

"He's probably just has a lot on his mind," Yugi defended, "He does have a complicated job."

Duke sat down again. "He probably needs to get laid."

When Joey rolled his eyes, Duke chuckled. "Just messin' around."

"Anyway, to what I was saying," Link explained, scratching his long ear, "Next year, Junior is gonna be 9, I think I'm going to start training him."

"I guess you may as well. You should be prepared even in times of peace." Duke said. "What about you, Pharaoh? Anything new?"

Nothing he could share. "No recent events I can recall. Just working at the Museum as usual."

"Well, Yugi and I are killing it in Kaiba's tournaments, right Yug?" Joey said with confidence. Yugi nodded.

"Yeah, it's been a lot of fun dueling without stakes for once. You'd love it, Pharaoh." He said, "It's not to late to compete you know."

Yami closed his eyes with a smile. "I'll definitely be there to spectate when you and Joey meet at the finals."

Joey laughed in flattery over the sound of Junior's hand held video game.

* * *

The Stables

"It stinks around here. Where is she?" Sora looked around when he and Jane arrived to meet Lucia.

"Over here!" Lucia called on the other side of the field. Sora and Jane jogged in her direction.

"What is this place?" Sora said, plugging his nose. Jane chuckled at his silliness.

"You're smelling the horses from the barns," She said, "I don't think it's that bad."

Lucia gestured for them to follow her into the woods. She planned to bring them to the spring where, Drew, Dark Link and Link have taken her. It's the perfect place to talk about recent events.

"Sorry, I'm not used to inhaling horse poop." Sora said, than jumped in surprise when they got under the trees. "Did you see that?"

The girls blinked. "What?"

Sora pushed Lucia into the shadow of one of the trees and her whole body lightly shone a white-yellow glimmer, barely visible. Jane's eyes widened at the sight and Lucia looked at her fingers.

"This!" Lucia said, "This is what happened to my hand when I reached into my bag!

"Weird..." Sora said, Lucia feeling uncomfortable at how close Jane and Sora were when examining her skin. Jane pressed on her and watched the strength of the glimmer change in respond to her blood flow beneath her skin. It was for sure coming from inside of her.

"What's causing it, it won't go away." Jane said, also watching her hair emit the same soft light. Sora held Lucia's hand and cupped it with both of his, making a peep hole for his eye to observe her hand in darkness. The light was much brighter that way and he blinked to adjust to it.

"Yup..." He said while still looking into his hands. "She's lighting up alright. She's even brighter in darkness."

Jane copied Sora with the other hand and Lucia just blushed as they studied her.

"It's like...she's a light bulb. The darker the area, the brighter she is." Jane said, finally understanding and looking up at the tree. It was just barely noticeable under the tree's shadow, probably because the sun is still up and bright...but if night fall were to hit...Jane rubbed her forehead, already imagining he trouble in their future. "She lights up when it's dark...how will we explain this?"

Sora moved his hand up and down, watching Lucia's hand react to the changes and just messing around at this point. Lucia pulled her hands away from them both.

"Ok...we get it. I light up," She said...then simultaneously with Sora, "Cool."

Jane rolled her eyes. "It's not cool if someone finds out." She said. Sora crossed his arms and looked to the ground in thought.

"If Lucia is glowing like that in the dark, it wont be long before Link and the Pharaoh find out we've been to Hyrule..." He sighed, "They'll be really disappointed in me."

"No they won't, because they won't know." Lucia said. "I just have to avoid them when there isn't enough light in the room. No...big deal."

They could sense Lucia's uncertainty but what choice did they have? If Link and Yami knew the truth, they would both agree to send Sora home and refuse to allow the girls to see him anymore. They didn't want to lose Sora anymore than he wanted to lose them.

"So..." Lucia broke the awkward silence, "If darkness makes you glow...then what turned you into a mermaid?"

Jane's eyes turned from concern to realization. "I turned when I got in the shower. The water!"

Lucia blinked. "Only one way to test the theory. Come on!"

A few minutes of jogging down the forest path, with Lucia's light strength changing with each different shadow, they reached the spring. Lucia blushed at the memories she had there.

"Touch the water, let's see." She said.

"I wonder if it only works on my legs or something." Jane wondered. She reached out and stopped when she noticed Sora taking his cloths off. She flinched. "Sora...what are you doing?"

"Going for a swim." He said, "If the theory's right, you're gonna test your tail right?"

Jane blinked. He was right. If she was really a mermaid, it would be an absolute wonder to swim. She smiled at him. "You're right."

Sora jumped into the pound, barely splashing but enough to land just a few drops on Jane's hand and face. Then she worried.

"Wait...what if I don't change back this time?" She said. A few drops was all she needed before her entire appearance and outfit sparkled and was replaced with fantastical features of that of a mermaid. Lucia gasped in shock as she witnessed Jane sitting by the water looking the way she did.

"Oh my-GOD." She said loudly. Jane blushed as she starred at the shiny golden scales that she now had the chance to observe.

"Come on, MJ." Sora waved from the water, his hair already damp, "I've had a tail before. It's harder than it looks, trust me. I'll help ya!"

Jane smiled and attempted to drag herself to the water. She sweat-dropped in embarrassment.

"Ok...this thing is super heavy." She said with heavy eyebrows. "Lucia, would you mind-?"

Lucia bent over and pushed Jane with everything she had until the mermaid was in the water. She gasped. "Wow, you _are_ heavy."

When Jane was in the water, she at first got control of her balance and then her mouth opened wide in a shocked smile. It was clear to anyone that she was really excited. Sora noticed it the most and it brought uncontrollable bliss to his face...like watching her in slow motion. He smiled widely and laughed with joy as he witnessed Jane's first dive.

Lucia sat by the water and sighed. Was glowing all she could do? She watched Jane and Sora play in the water as she had seen before in the pool when Sora taught her breath hold techniques. _Cool, hang on, what!?, do this_ , where all phrases she could hear from them. They seemed to both love the water and, even though she was feeling a bit jealous, she couldn't help but smile at how cute they were as they studied the functions of Jane's tail as they did with Lucia's light.

"So," Lucia regretfully interrupted their fun, "Like me with the dark, you can't very well touch water in front of anyone anymore, huh Jane?"

Jane and Sora's smile weakened. "Yeah," Jane said, "The water barely touched my face and...that was enough for the change."

"No sweat," Sora said, mood already improving. "We'll all help each other keep the secret...and keep you guys away from those elements."

Sora and Jane looked at each other than Lucia. She stood up.

"So how do you change back?" She asked. Jane swam up to Lucia with Sora following. He shook his hair and climbed out of the water, both he and Lucia pulling her out.

"Last time she changed back, she was covered in towels." Sora blinked, "And she blow dried her- oh! She just has to dry! Of course."

Jane blushed as Sora and Lucia rubbed her down with Sora's clothes to speed up the process, but drying damp hair and soil underneath her was difficult. She rested her face in her hand and sighed.

"Wow...this is going to become a bigger problem than anything. Changing back is a bitch." She said.

"Ya. You'll have to make sure you only bathe with me around." Sora said then stuttered at noticing what he said, scratching his head, "That is!-"

Lucia laughed. "We know what you mean."

"So," Jane said, patiently waiting for the breeze to dry her off, laying on her stomach next to Lucia while Sora put his clothes back on, all wet. "I wonder why this happened to us."

When Lucia had a flash back of Hyrule, she remembered the fortune teller. As soon as she got an idea, she glowed a tad brighter for just a second. "The fortune teller!"

"Huh?" The others looked at her.

"This wasn't due to world hopping! Those cards did this to us! The _Light_ and the _Watery_!" She said.

"What cards!?" Sora said, putting on his short sleeve jacket, "You said you got your fortunes read and that was all!"

"There were cards too and...with her disappearing...do you think she did this on purpose?" She questioned.

"Why would she do this to two random girls at the market?" Jane doubted, "Maybe the cards were only predicted that this would happen to us because we were where we weren't suppose to be."

Sora sighed. "That makes more sense but at the same time...you guys really shouldn't have been this badly affected just from a short trip to another world. It could be anything."

Jane sighed, still waiting to dry when her phone chimed. She reached out to her shell bad on the ground and pulled it out, picking up.

"Hey Atem." She said, acting cool and silencing the others with her finger, "Yeah, we're just paying and then we'll head back...uh Sora? He's..."

Sora whispered, _the beach._

"...he was at the beach but...he's meeting us here. We're coming home together soon...yeah...bye!" Jane hung up, "Atem said everyone wants to see us before they head back, so we should get going."

Sora crossed his arms with a side ways grin, "You'll need legs first."

Lucia chuckled. "If only light could dry you faster," She said, "But I hope we get moving quick. The sun will set soon and that would be bad."

"It's gonna be a full time job babysitting you two." Sora said with confidence, hands behind his head.

"Hey." They responded.

"So..." Lucia said, "What was it that you did to get on the Pharaoh's bad side?"

Sora's smile died and he groaned. The girls laughing.

* * *

Little did the three friends know...there was a shadow nearby watching everything going on. A tall figure, with a skin tight mask and an evil agenda. He turned away from them and spoke into mirror.

"Gold. The plan was a success. Two cursed young woman have returned from their first trip out into the universes. It's time for our next move."

 _Very good,_ Gold responded from the mirror. _As promised, we will process with your revenge. It's time to awaken Lady Bug and Chat Noir.  
_

* * *

 _ **AN: HOLY damnnn this story is soo different than what it was starting out. What an adventure. So I did a lot of foreshadowing in here, I wonder if you can pick it all up and guess what happens!**  
_


	23. Vol 4 Ch 2: Happily Ever After

**Savannah Georgia~**  
 _Volume 4 Chapter 2: Happily Ever After  
Narrator's P.O.V_

"Careful with that, little mermaid." Lucia whispered to Jane who got an elbow in her rib as a response with a very harsh _Shh._ They stood in the museum surrounded by all of Yami's staff and their friends, each holding up a glass of champagne in honour of the Pharaoh's birthday.

"Happy Birthday, Pharaoh!" Link said and everyone copied before taking a drink of their glass except for Jane. Wearing a sexy black dress that he had complimented before, she starred at the Pharaoh with the goofiest eyes one would think. Sora screeched against the ground by her side to wave a gloved hand in front of her face.

"Hello?" He said, leaning in animated, "You in there?"

Jane blinked, returning her attention to Sora with a blush. "Whoops." She said, proceeding with the usual and swapping her glass with Sora's empty one to appear as though she had finished. Drinking without a straw has become impossible for her now that she transforms into a mermaid on contact with water.

"She's nervous about today." Lucia winked to Jane and Sora. Sora scratched his head.

"Nervous? What for?" He asked. Lucia looked to Jane who held one of her burning cheeks.

"Did you give it to him, yet?" She asked, referring to the watch that Jane had been hiding for months.

"I'm going to give it to him tonight when we're alone." She said, taking a deep breath. "I don't know why I'm so nervous! It's not like I haven't been alone with him before."

"It has been a while since you guys had any real alone time." Lucia commented, "With the summer, Joey and Duke were over a lot."

"You don't need to be alone to give him a birthday gift." Sora assumed.

"But it's more romantic," Lucia said. "Tell me what happens. He's going to love it!"

Sora scratched his head, "Are you sure you don't want us to be around considering recent events?"

"Sora," Lucia said with a strong tone, "She'll be fine."

Sora put his free hand in his pocket, looking at the Pharaoh and cringing in his stomach while imagining what he likely had planned to do with Jane later that night. But it was out of his hands.

"I'm just looking out for you guys." He said. When Jane was too distracted starring at the king in a suit again, he huffed. Lucia giggled.

"She's a lost case today." She said.

"Great, now he's coming." Sora said under his breath. The Pharaoh made his way to the three with the intent to speak with Jane. When he reached them, Lucia bowed.

"Happy Birthday, Pharaoh." She said. Sora then copied.

"Happy Birthday." He said. Yami smiled.

"Thank you for coming by the Museum, I know you have other matters to attend to." He said.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Lucia said. Jane smiled and blinked at the Pharaoh, already expecting special treatment.

"That was quick," He said, touching the hand that held the empty glass.

"I...didn't realize. I was just watching you and wasn't thinking." She responded. Sora rolled his eyes while Lucia pulled him away to give them their space.

"Watching me?" He repeated with a smile. Jane nodded.

"Yeah. I'm looking forward to our plans later." She said. Their free hands intertwined and the Pharaoh looked at her polished fingernails.

"So am I. It feels like it has been centuries since I have spent time with you." He said. "It...had me quite worried actually."

Jane's smile became surprised. "Worried? Why?"

"We'll talk about it later," He said, "You look absolutely sensational, by the way. That dress is one of my favourites..."

"Yeah I know." She responded, "That's why I'm wearing it."

"Be careful," He said, "You're setting yourself up for an inescapable evening."

Jane chuckled and lightly bit her lip. "Who said I want to escape?"

The Pharaoh's staff chatted among themselves and the kings friends. Only Mai and Duke made it over this time as Yugi and Joey were too involved with the tournament but both promised to make it up to Yami. Sora sat with Lucia on one of the benches by the walls under some paintings by a bright light, annoying her with his bad mood.

"What's wrong, Sora?" She said in frustration. Sora shrugged.

"You guys," He said, "I saw you looking at Link just now. You're both such girls."

Lucia blushed. "Well So-rry. In case you hadn't notice, I am a girl."

"I hadn't noticed." Sora teased and Lucia lightly punched him.

"Come on, you know how it is..." She blushed, "What about you and Kairi? You should know how it feels to love someone."

Sora rested his head on his hand, leaning against the edge of the bench.

"Kairi...?" He said to himself. He nearly forgot he had a relationship with Kairi. When he and his friends returned to Destiny Islands, they never addressed what they had and just remained friends. Now that he thought about it, he had outgrown the idea of being with Kairi.

"Sure, I love Kairi." He said without a doubt. "But I don't want to marry her."

"Who brought up marriage?" Lucia blinked. Sora's squished cheek made his dumbfounded expression stronger.

"Don't have to. If Link or the Pharaoh proposed tomorrow, you guys would immediately accept." He said. Lucia fiddled her hands.

"...Ok, true." She said. Sora sat up and watched the Pharaoh converse with his coworkers, holding Jane's hand as if they were already wed.

"How is she going to keep the secret from him forever?" Sora asked himself out loud. Lucia followed his gaze and also watched them.

"Not forever." She said, "Just long enough until he'd accept it."

"How long do you think that will take?"

"Until he stops worrying."

"Worrying? What's he worried about?" Sora asked. Lucia sighed.

"Losing her..." She said, recalling their history. Sora watched them with a confused gaze...did the Pharaoh really worry about that? Was it even a possibility?

Sora wasn't aware of the past with Yuu, in fact, it was easier not to tell him at all. The others assumed Yami worried because of the past repeating itself and, thanks to the activation of an unintended curse, the chances of that are more than comforting.

"What about you and Link?" Sora asked. "Will you ever tell him that you glow?"

Lucia sweat-dropped. "Why do you always talk about my new mishap as some kind of joke?"

Sora giggled at her. "Aw, I'm just kidding. It's funny."

Lucia crossed her arms and Sora tapped her shoulder.

"I think it's cool that you light up." He said comfortingly, "I bet Link would, too."

"I can't tell Link because he'll tell Yami." She said.

"Even if you ask him not to?" Sora asked.

"Even then. They go way back." Lucia said, "They and Yugi share everything with each other, they're like brothers."

Lucia remembered Link doing everything he could to not tell Yami about Yuu when she asked him to. But when she asked him for a favour like that, Jane was in the process of telling him anyway. Asking him to keep a secret this big for long is asking too much. It's better to just wait for Yami to settle with Jane before they decide to reveal anything about what happened in Hyrule.

"Why are you guys over here?" Link said, surprising them both. He stood in front of them, wearing half of Drew's uniform with a loose formal jacket. You could tell it was a last minute dress up when he left work. Sora shrugged, giving Link what used to be Jane's glass.

"Here." He said, "I think my shot was over filled. I can't have anymore." He lied. Link took the glass from Sora as a favour.

"Can I take the pretty girl next to you as well?" Link smiled, requesting some time with Lucia.

"Link!" Lucia blushed.

"Sure, just stay where I can see you." Sora crossed his arms, protectively. Link took it as a joke as though Sora was playing along, but Sora was dead serious. He was finding that it was becoming his job to help the girls protect their secret. Lucia stood up to walk with Link and Sora watched them go before joining Mai in Duke for conversation.

"Where's Junior?" Lucia asked.

"At school." He said. Lucia watched Sora, making sure he was near in case of an emergency.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Sora," Link said when he noticed. "I think I'm jealous."

Lucia smiled. "Wow, the old you would never confess to that."

Link hesitated but was desperate to hold her hand.

"W-well, I'm putting the effort to improve on our communication. That is what you said, remember?"

Lucia blushed, thinking back a just a week ago...

* * *

 _ **1 week ago**_

 _Sora fiercely messed with the light switch, watching Lucia turn from bright to not in the girls room. It didn't matter how fast he flipped it, Lucia brightness hadn't changed. He pulled out a small journal from his pocket and scribbled on the inside before proceeding to doing it again, this time changing tempo._

" _What the deal, Sora?" Jane asked, watching him. "It's like every day now that you ask us to meet up so you can experiment on us."_

" _I take advantage whenever Link and the Pharaoh are at work," Sora explained, "I want to know as much as I can about these side affects of yours. The more I know, the better I'll be at protecting you from it."_

 _Lucia smiled thinking how sweet Sora was for putting in such effort like that._

" _So how is flipping a switch going to teach you more?" Lucia asked. Sora rubbed his chin._

" _Because, I started to notice that you're brighter in the dark in different times. Check it out-" Sora shut the light off again. "See? I noticed the longer you spend time in light, the brighter you are when darkness hits."_

 _Lucia blinked while looking at her fingers. "Barely. I can't even tell a difference."_

" _But maybe different kinds of light will adjust how you glow too." Sora theorized._

" _And how will knowing that help anyway?" Jane asked before Sora sprayed her in the arm with a recycled spray bottle filled with water. "SORA!" She complained._

Sora grabbed his phone to look at the clock as Jane transformed. She gave him an annoyed look and he smiled. "See. After touching water, she changes exactly 12 seconds later EVERY time."

 _Jane and Lucia looked at each other, impressed._

"Ooo," Lucia said, "I never thought to measure the time. Now you know how much time you have when you touch water."

 _Jane pursed her lips, trying to hold back a smile. "Ok, maybe knowing more is helpful..."_

 _Sora stood there proudly. "See? Maybe if get to know as much as possible, we can figure out a way to stop this from happening. Though it's unlikely, it's still worth a try. Right?"_

" _It can't hurt."Lucia said._

" _Oh, that reminds me, Lucia." Sora said, "I had an app installed on your phone."_

 _The girls blinked. "When did you do that!?"_

 _Sora sat next to the girls while taking Lucia's phone. Jane wiped her arm down while Sora opened it for her. "This morning. It's an app that tells you exactly when the sun will set every day in Savannah Georgia. This way, you wont lose track of time and can get home before it's dark."_

 _Lucia stood up with joy. "Thanks Sora! This is great! I have a lesson with Link today and I was worried about the sun."_

" _Ohhhh a lesson with a Link?" Jane and Sora said in unison. The girl blushed._

" _Quit it! Actually according to the app, I only have 3 more hours...so see ya!"_

" _...See, it was little water. You changed back quick. Forgive me?" Sora said and Jane sprayed him with the bottle._

 _As for Lucia, she didn't take long to reach Link and she was well excited. With things being so hectic lately, she hadn't been to a lesson since the trip to Hyrule._

 _When she arrived she saw the handsome elf leaving Ash with the two horses, clearly concealing his ears from him as usual. Now that she had a secret of her own, she was able to relate with that very much._

 _Lucia waved happily and Link grunted with a smile in return. With Ash having gone home, Link removed his riders hat and tossed it by the fence of the property._

" _Hey Luch!" He said, the two greeting in a hug. They were both happy that Link wasn't dark today._

 _Lucia pulled out Link's hat from her bag._

" _Tah Dah!" She said, revealing the red patch that had neatly been stitched on it. "It's done."_

Link's natural charming happiness completely vanished to seriousness when he saw how nicely done it was. He took it from her and examined it closely, feeling the texture under his fingers and noticing the effort she put into every little stitch around the seems. It was...

 _Link quickly put the hat on and left the horses in the fence. He picked up his douffle bag, checked if anyone was looking and pushed Lucia into the forested path to the pond._

" _Wh-what about our lesson?" She said, suddenly worried about Link's change in attitude. Was he becoming dark again? He was just pushing her into the forest...where she was sure to avoid the shadows of the trees._

" _Lucia?" Link said seriously facing her, like he was trying to do something then stopped, turned around and punched the bark of a nearby tree."HYAHH!" He yelled, frustrated about something. The dent in the tree didn't even hurt him._

" _What's wrong?" She blinked, confused._

" _Why am I so..." Link mumbled to himself, then turned around and grabbed Lucia's hands. "The hat is perfect, it really is."_

" _Then why are you so upset?" She said, blushing at his touch. She was used to being close to Dark Link but...he was still himself. This was still her Link._

 _Link looked in her eyes, nearly shaking. "Because...I love it so much and it made me want to..."_

When Link leaned it a bit, Lucia blushed and understood. Did Link want to kiss her? As himself? Not as drew or while he was...sick? Really?

She blinked, remembering their conversation last time they were here...with the dark Link. He asked her to ask him out when he was himself again because as himself he's too shy...

" _You can if you want. I won't reject you." She said quietly. Link looked at her lips for a second and then grunted. "That's what you're afraid of, right? That I would reject you? I'm telling you that I won't..."_

 _That's as clear as consent gets, Link couldn't turn away now. She must have been referring to the conversation they had before...and since she brought him the patches...they've been exclusive, right?_

 _Link held her face but his hand was shaking. He was so nervous - Lucia was so important to him, he didn't want to ruin anything by screwing up. He had kissed her so many times before, but he couldn't hide behind Drew or Dark Link anymore. This was the real deal._

 _It was literally an instant when Link's beating heart calmed. It was the joining of their kiss that relaxed him...more than he had ever thought it would. It was like medicine for a bad fever, removing a 200 pound weight off his shoulders, or like having an angel save you from your sins...it was that relieving. Looking back, he felt like an idiot for stressing for so long. If he knew Lucia was the cure, he would have kissed her long before._

 _It was soft. So different than the hungry kisses she was used to. This one was sweeter and honest. She smiled when he pulled away._

" _See?" She said kindly, "I told you I wouldn't reject you."_

" _Heh," Link smiled back and began leaving an array of kisses on her lips and her cheeks, making up for aaallllll of the moments he wanted to kiss her but didn't. She chuckled sheepishly as she let him do it._

" _W-" Lucia said, blocked by another kiss then continued when she was free again, "What's all this!?"_

 _Link rested his chin on her head when he pulled her in a hug, "This should have been our first kiss. Not at the Masquerade."_

 _Lucia looked up, wondering what his expression looked like as she couldn't see his face from where he held her. "...Now that I know it was you, I can more freely admit how much I enjoyed it though."_

 _Link laughed and looked at the short girl, "I knew you liked Drew."_

" _Well! Can you blame me?" She blushed._

" _No...I understand. I do wish you would have told me you were into me, instead of Drew." He said._

" _I was waiting for you to do something. When we met, you and Diana sorta had a thing...and I didn't want to be awkward!" She said._

" _That ship sailed ages ago! Besides, I was waiting for YOU to do something and became Drew so it wouldn't be awkward!" He said in response. Lucia blinked._

" _Well, we clearly have some communication issues." She said, "This would have all been avoided if we just told each other how we felt from the beginning..."_

" _You're right, it should have been me first," Link said. "I was the one with the baggage and confused you..."_

" _No, no.." Lucia said, being humble, "This is the 21_ _st_ _century. I shouldn't have waited for the guy to make the first move just because..."_

" _No," Link refused, "I was the one who told you I needed time to make sure this was what I wanted...which was just an excuse by the way...I was just too afraid."_

" _No! You're way cooler than me, any girl would jump at the chance. I should have said something first." Lucia fought back._

" _You're stubborn." Link said._

" _So are you." Lucia said, "We both are. That's the problem."_

" _Ok...then we have to improve our communication with each other then. Like you said." Link added._

" _Yeah. We just have to be honest and promise that we'll be kind so no one is afraid to tell the truth." Lucia said, "and I'll start by saying, while you were Dark Link...we made out a lot."_

 _Link blinked. He knew they had but he was very impressed that she was able to say so like that. She really was making an effort, so he would have to return the favour. He didn't exactly want her to know he remembered being dark, but he definitely wanted to start opening up more as well._

" _Grunt* I don't know if I can return to a pace like that so quickly b-but um." He blushed, "I'll be honest in telling you that I am very interested in trying."_

 _Lucia blushed hard! "Oh boy. One step at a time then?"_

 _Link laughed. "Yeah. And I already feel like we are but...I can't help but want to make sure. Are we...?"_

" _Together?" They said at the same time. Link chuckled and Lucia jumped in for a hug and let herself hang off the powerful monument that Link was._

" _Finalllyyyy." She said, glasses nearly falling. He held her back, never feeling this relaxed in months._

 _ **End of flash back**_

* * *

Lucia blushed heavily at the memory. "Oh yeah...I did say that." She paused, "But don't worry, Sora isn't a reason to be jealous."

"Good, because I'll beat him up if he is." He said.

"Oh that I know!" Lucia said a bit louder than needed, "This one wrecked Duke at Joey's wedding."

"Hey!" Link crossed his arms, "I was in a bad place."

Lucia laughed at the memory that was now funny and Link sucked in a deep breath to hold Lucia's hand as they walked through the exhibit together. She blushed, but didn't say anything.

"Is this...ok?" He asked her with sincerity. Lucia nodded.

"For the sake of communication and going against my natural instincts...yes." She said.

"Lucia..." Link said, "I was wondering...the Pharaoh asked for the house to himself tonight and I was originally going to just crash at Ash's place but...do you want to do something?"

Lucia rubbed her burning cheek, wishing she could say yes to a night with Link as their first official date. But alas, she could not.

"Tonight...like, after dark?" She asked. Link blinked.

"...Yeah. Why, you..can't?"

She frowned. "...I can't. I already made plans with my friends."

"Friends?"

"Ya. Sora, Adrian, Marionette and Alya." She said. Link frowned.

"You...can't miss it? I thought we could go into the city with Emmett." He said. Lucia wanted to kill herself for going to Hyrule and doing this to herself. The sound of a city ride with Link sounded so romantic!

"I can, and I totally want to!" Lucia said, "But...I shouldn't. You see, I'm meeting my pen pal for the first time there as well."

"Pen Pal?" Link raised a brow, "Oh, you mean that guy who's been helping you write your book?"

"Yeah, he's moved here from Paris on a scholarship. We're going to go over our notes in person."

Link looked up to the side, some what disappointed. Then Lucia's eyes lit up. "Hey! Why don't you come with me?"

"Really?" Link smiled. "I wouldn't be in the way?"

"No! You're...my boyfriend after all." She said with a smile. Link's grip on her hand tightened. Just being asked made him feel better, even he decides not to intrude on her plans with her friends.

"I'll think about it." He smiled. "Thanks, Luch."

* * *

Later that Night...

The Pharaoh drove home with a smile, having enjoyed the time at the Museum. He wasn't one to do anything rash in the modern era, but when Yugi returns, he was thinking of taking a trip home to Egypt to visit his family.

He held Jane's hand on the ride home and it was quiet the entire way, just enjoying the silence. When they got into the house, Jane sighed at the relief of the AC sue to the summer heat of the town.

"Ah! Great to be home!" She said, letting Yami take her bag. "I was surprised by how many of your staff was at the party, I forgot how popular you are."

The Pharaoh smiled, removing the suit jacket and hanging it on the rack by the stair case. "A good leader is usually well liked."

"Of course," She said, "I'm going to change into something more comfortable, I'll be right back..."

As she balanced herself on her heels up the stairs, Yami watched her walk the entire way up before he loosened his tie and followed her, skipping stairs with his steps.

"Without my assistance? You're disillusioned..." He said. She blushed when the Pharaoh stopped her from going to her room. "Where do you think you're going?"

She blinked. "To get your surprise...and to change."

The Pharaoh's expression became surprise. He had forgotten that she had mentioned holding onto a gift for quite some time. He smiled.

"Alright...but you're not leaving my sight." He said. Jane shook her head, finding him adorably clingy.

"Fine," She said, opening the door and turning the light on. She reached under a desk and pulled out a box. She walked by him into the hall and waved it. "This way."

"A box?" He questioned, watching her let herself into his room. His lustful thoughts quickly turned into curiosity. He thought her surprise was...well, her. He didn't expect a gift. There was nothing in the world he could think of that he didn't already have.

He followed her in and shut the door. Jane put the box on the bed and fixed her hair in habit. Yami joined her.

"What's in it?" He asked. She played with her hair nervously.

"A gift. And...when I got it, my intention was to get something to remind you that I belong to you now...and no one else." She said.

Yami's heart skipped a beat. Considering what he had done to her, it brings immense relief hearing words like that. He leaned over and picked up the small black box and examined it's leather material.

"Despite having this...I would love to hear those words as often as the situation allows." He said.

Jane smiled. "Open it, Atem."

With his tough hands, the king of Egypt opened the black box to reveal a golden watch, neatly placed into the packaging. It had roman numerals in place of the numbers and there was a small engraving in cursive around the frame. Yami looked closer and noticed it read, _Can I keep my key?_ The last words spoken by Jane on a very special night.

Yami was poker-faced looking at the gift and it made Jane nervous. Was it too much? The Pharaoh removed the watch from the box and examined the weight and style. He finally smiled with his eyes closed, realizing how pathetically in love he was with this woman.

"I love it." He finally said. Jane's eyes widened. Yami was difficult to buy gifts for.

"Really!?" She said with excitement. He chuckled while looking at it.

"The watch is marvellous on it's own, but the engravement you added is-" Jane laughed as he spoke, "-it's wonderfully comedic."

Jane sighed as she sat on the bed. "I'm so glad. I thought of you right away when I saw it."

Yami didn't waste any time to put on the golden jewellery while looking at Jane. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She said genuinely, "It isn't much...you deserve 100 watches."

Yami began to unbutton his dress shirt. "I don't need that many watches." He said, clearly undressing to become more comfortable.

"You know what I mean." Jane said, blushing and looking away, even though she had all the permission in the world to watch him. When he removed it, he put the shirt on his dresser, still with his tie on and let himself in his washroom. When she heard him turn the water on to his tub, her blushing smile become worried panic.

She stood up and went to the door way of his washroom where she found him removing his belt.

"What are you doing?" She asked. He smiled, thinking how sexy she was in her little black dress.

"It was a long day," He said. "Will you join me?"

Jane watched the water flow out of the tap, her heart racing for a different reason then the last time she was here. She couldn't touch the stuff...how would she get out of it? It had to be sudden...something he wouldn't question...something reasonable. She walked to the tap and shut off the water.

"...Is something the matter?" He asked, surprised. Jane braced herself and flirtatiously touched her hair.

"That bath is huge..." She said, making it up as she went along. "It'll take a while till it's full."

"...Yes..." Yami said suspiciously. "We aren't in any hurry."

Jane grabbed his hand and slowly pulled him out of the washroom, keeping her eyes on his and making sure he was entranced.

"...I don't think I can wait that long." She said once he stepped out of the bathroom. She shut the door and reached up to meet Yami with a passionate kiss, that was both honest and manipulated. She didn't fake anything, she knew they had plans tonight. She was just ensuring their plans stayed dry.

Yami pulled away for a brief second, partially confused but also incredibly aroused.

"What are you doing?" He said with a half smile, "First the watch and now you're...is it the tie without the shirt? Does that do it for you?"

Jane laughed at the cuteness that is rare in the Pharaoh. She grabbed the tie since it was mentioned and shrugged.

"No it's not that, it's just..." She pulled on it a little, "I wanted to change but you didn't let me."

She walked backward on the bed and sat on it with a seductive look in her eyes. She crossed one leg over the other, doing her best to lock him in and smiled. "Want to help me?"

Yami pulled the phone out of his pocket and placed it on his dresser where it was out of the way. He walked to Jane and knealed on the ground toward her, almost like bowing and undoing the strap of her black heel without taking his eyes off of her.

Jane was internally screaming but proud of her bravery to remain a temptress. When both heels were removed, he slowly stood himself up to match her level, sliding his hands over her legs on the way and kissed her slowly...a pace that didn't last.

She was pushed on her back without any worry from the Pharaoh about removing the rest. It was one of his favourite things about this dress. The zipper went down the front like a jacket...which he didn't waste time on. At this point, they had both forgotten about the bath they nearly had and were getting lost with their actions. As Yami kissed her neck, already picking up breath from an increased heart rate, Jane worked on his suit pants.

It didn't take the two very long to expose themselves, in fact, it was too quick. When Yami realized what the next step was, he stopped himself.

"You know..." He said, lifting himself and her closer to the head board of the bed. "It's only 9 o'clock..."

Jane chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, if we hurry up, it means we can go again."

Yami blinked. "My...you're eager tonight."

Jane blushed. Was she? "Am I?"

When Yami saw she was feeling embarrassed, he let his body fall on hers and he kissed her...letting his hand make his way to unspoken places.

"It's fine with me." He said quietly, "But how about a warm up first?"

Jane covered her face when Yami worked on her first. At first she was shy about it all, but when he leaned over the head board to shut off the lights...he knew her well. She loved to play in the dark.

She was losing herself after that and Yami couldn't very well contain himself either from the way her body reacted. It was sexy. When he took a break from her to pull the covers out of the bed with the intent to move under them, Jane surprised him with what she did next.

After joining him under and kissing him, he sat comfortably with his back on the head board. She looked at him with generous eyes and positioned herself lower than he thought was...

"H-hold on...Jane..." Yami put his hand up, letting her know that this was something she in no way had to do for him.

"Just...let me, ok?" She said. She wanted to go past her limit for his birthday. She wanted to get used to things for him. Because she loved him.

The king hesitated at first because this was something of different meaning to him, but once she made contact with soft lips, he had to hold back a groan. He gritted his teeth and put his right hand on his face, rubbing it roughly and into his hair, completely taken back but the rush of pleasure that went through him from her. And a few minutes of it and having shamelessly guided her with his left hand, he pulled her into him for another hungry kiss. For all the love he felt for her then, having her continue would mean her beautiful face was too far from his own. He just wanted to hold her forever and disappear into the blissfulness that was their love.

So they spend the rest of the night together, getting back in and out of intimacy and casual conversation...similar to the first time but occasionally throwing in a duel because, why not? And the entire time, Yami's watch remained on.

 _And with the events of things now for the two girls...things were perfect. And they would stay perfect...right?  
_

* * *

 _ **A\N: WELL DAMN. Things turned steamy fast. So things seem to be going well for the love birds...I wonder if something will ruin it. *Shameless forshadowing.**_


	24. Vol 4 Ch 3: A Sixth Sense

_"Maybe if we get to know as much as possible, we can figure out a way to stop this from happening."  
_  
 **Savannah Georgia~  
** _Vol 4 Ch 3: A sixth sense_ **  
** _Jane's P.O.V_

I tried to hide my grinning, but it was way too hard.

"It's not funny, you know." Sora raised a brow, "What if you couldn't get away from the tub? At this rate, he'll find out the truth in no time."

Sora was walking with me to the beach early after grabbing breakfast. The others were still sleeping at this time and I really needed a swim before they woke up. I told Sora a quick summary of what went down with the Pharaoh the night before and he's being a tad over protective.

"Relax Sora, even if I couldn't distract him, I could easily say no. I don't need a reason to not take a bath." I said.

"Are you sure?" He said as he watched me remove my sweater on the sand. "You know how you are with him."

"How am I with him?" I humoured him, but didn't really care. The jeans came off too.

"Weak." Sora said as I jogged toward the water. "Zero strength, MJ!"

"Uh huh," I said, diving in. I felt great already from a good nights rest but, ever since I became a mermaid, nothing in the world felt better than being in water. When I resurfaced, Sora was by the shore, waiting for me.

"Water withdrawals? Or is this just after the fact?" He said. I blinked.

"What?"

"You were so desperate to come for a swim today, I'm hoping its just a mermaid in need of water. Other wise, I'm scared to ask for details on what you did last night." He huffed. I rolled my eyes and rested my giant tail and body on the sand in the water.

"What does that have to do with it?" I said. "Besides, it's none of your business."

"When you say that, I know you did things you shouldn't have." He said, shaking his head with a smile. I blushed when I remembered what I did and then waved my hand quickly, accidentally spraying Sora in the face with water as though slapping him with it. Thing is... I didn't touch the water.

"Nice." He said. My eyes widened.

"Did I do that?" I said.

"Who else?" He blinked. I was shocked. I knew for a minute there, I moved water without touching it.

I dove back into the water and went deeper in this time around. It was still amazing to realize my perfect vision under water and how fast I was able to swim. Interestingly enough, I couldn't breath under water but as a mermaid, I was able to hold my breath for a really long time. I wondered if all mermaids were this way or if it was just me.

When I resurfaced, I saw Sora removing his black suit down to his boxers. I smiled when I noticed he was coming to join me for a swim. He dove under quickly and spat water at me when he came up.

"It's early if you want to swim further out to sea." He suggested. I looked at my palms and tried to move the water again by hovering them over the surface, but nothing seemed to be happening. I was sure I didn't imagine it.

"It's deep down there. What if you get tired?" I asked. Sora tapped the water with his hands, noticeably comfortable in it due to an experience I assumed was Atlantica.

"I'm with a mermaid. You got my back right?" He said before swimming ahead. I rolled my eyes and followed him. He was a slower swimmer, naturally. So I took his hand to help him paddle through.

* * *

Later

 _Just the girls in their room.  
Narrator's P.O.V_

 _ **To:** XxLuciixX_

 _ **From:** Red_Artist_

 _ **Subject Line:** Miraculous Sketches_

 _ **Attachments:** ,_

 _Hey Lucia,_

 _I know you said you wanted to draw the covers of every issue, but I couldn't help but sketch out a few ideas! I hope you don't mind…._

 _-Nathaniel_

 _ **To:** Red_Artist_

 _ **From:** XxLuciixX_

 _ **Subject Line:** Re: Miraculous Sketches_

 _ **Attachments:** ,_

 _Hi Nath,_

 _They look so great! I was actually having trouble coming up with ideas for it, so this is tremendous help! Thank you :)_

 _Best wishes ,_

 _Lucia_

"Ohhh~ Is this the Nathaniel guy you mentioned?"

The sudden voice startled Lucia as she just barely toppled over her seat.

"Eek!" She squeaked trying to reclaim her balance on her chair. Luckily she was caught by the figure behind her.

"Oops, didn't mean to scare you," Jane replied as she put the chair and it's occupant straight up again.

"Ya, this is that same Nathaniel, he's been a real help keeping me on track." She said with a small smile, thankful for such a great person to help her with her story.

"Oh~?" Jane mused with an arched eyebrow

"Oh?" Lucia repeated, confused etched in her parroting.

"Should Link be jealous~?" She said in a teasing tone, biting down a giggle. At this Lucia's brown eyes widened behind her thick framed glasses. Swerving her chair around to look at her friend with a almost flabbergasted look.

"W-WHAT!? No! Absolutely not!" She responded immediately.

"Speaking of Link," Jane added, "What's taking you two so long to go beyond hand holding?"

"What!?" Lucia blushed again, "You saw us holding hands? When?"

Jane batted her eyelashes. "Oh, you know. Under the table, behind the couch, in the hall saying goodnight- you act like you're hiding a hand job or something."

Lucia fell anime style with her sketchbook going up in loose pages.

"I-I-I I am not doing that!" She said. Jane blinked.

"Didn't say you were. I said you're acting like you are. Why are you so shy? Yami and I don't hide our affection."

"Yami and you had a whole extra year to warm up to each other." She said, collecting her loose papers.

"That didn't count. We weren't dating." Jane crossed her arms. "But if you guys want to be more conservative with your relationship, that's cool. Just make sure you tell me when Link takes you to 3rd base. I must live that through you."

Lucia sweat dropped. "Did you just say that?"

Jane raised a brow with a grin, "You got the same thing when I told you about Yami. Don't act innocent."

Lucia huffed. It was all too much of an embarrassing conversation to have. If she wanted to, she and Link could jump right to the next level...after all, Dark Link nearly did. But Link was a gentlemen and was taking things slowly and-she loved him for that.

A sound made interrupted the outburst, promoting the two girls to look at the laptop screen. Noticing it was another e-mail from the mysterious online partner.

 _ **To:** XxLuciixX_

 _ **From:** Red_Artist_

 _ **Subject Line:** Actually….I was wondering_

 _I hope you don't mind, but next week I'm actually visiting some friends in Savannah Georgia who go to school there. Correct me if I'm wrong but that's where you are currently staying right? I don't want to sound like really awkward or anything but I was just wondering if maybe we could actually meet face to face for once? Maybe share more ideas for the story while I'm there? If you don't mind?_

 _~Nathaniel_

"And the plot thickens…" Jane whistles before tilting her head to the other girl. "The love triangle between Lucia, the Hero of time and the Red Artist!"

Lucia blinked at the screen without hearing Jane. The mermaid leaned in.

"So are you actually going to meet up with this guy? Do you even know what he looks like? I would be careful Luch…." She said reading the e-mail once again, tapping her index finger to her lip in thought.

"Um...Well I am curious and It shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as I meet him in a public place, I can update you too so you'll have the details?" She said with hopeful smile as she nervously tapped her fingers together, the thought of meeting him was interesting but also a little nerve-wracking…

"Why don't you ask Link to go with you?" Jane suggested. "You know, to keep you safe AND his."

"Ha-ha. He's working." She said, preparing her bag. Jane blinked.

"You're going right now!?" She said.

"No, silly. I am meeting up with my friends from school." Lucia said while heading for the door and turning back around, "Sora's coming with. You should meet them some time. One of them is really cute, I have to admit. A model."

"Ooooo," Jane said sarcastically, "I'll have to find the time in between all my dates with the king of games."

Lucia laughed, "I'm just saying he's eye candy, ok? Like Link is to you, apparently, Miss 3rd base."

"Listen," Jane started as Lucia laughed, "Easy to talk when you haven't been banged yet. Link looks like he's gunna be an amazing lover-"

"My ears! Jane," Lucia said, her innocence being contaminated. She left the room, "I'm going to leave before you start making love to yourself."

"There's a word for that Lucia, it's called masturbation. No need to be shy." Jane said, now crossing boundaries purposely to make Lucia uncomfortable. "And besides, I don't need to do that anyway when I have a Hylian in the house who's got blue balls cause his girlfriend won't put out."

Lucia ran into the room to tackle Jane to the floor.

* * *

 **Alyas House**

 _Lucia, Sora Alya, and Marinette_

The three girls worked on their project together on the floor in the middle of scattered paper and art supplies while Sora leaned back in Alya's office chair, blowing bubble gum and just making sure no one shuts off the lights. He continued to check his phone in case of an urgent call from Jane but all seemed fine.

"Mari, pass me the red marker-" Lucia asked Marinette who complied.

"What is that, Lucia? That's not part of our assignment." Marinette said when she noticed Lucia coloring in a sketch she had of the super heroine that she and Nathaniel had been designing. She wanted to have at least some colour work to show him when she met him later.

"Hey, it's Ladybug!" Alya recognized and Lucia dropped the marker.

"H-how did you know that?" She said confused. How could Alya possibly know about her invention when she never shared it?

"Uh, hello. Everyone knows about Ladybug." Alya said, Marinette cringing in her spot, "The greatest super heroine to ever live-defender of Paris who fights alongside Chat Noir!"

Lucia's jaw dropped and Sora sat up in his seat, interested to learn.

"You...haven't heard of Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Alya asked confused.

"N-" Lucia hit Sora in the leg to stop him.

"Uh, of course! I was just kidding. I wanted to see if my drawing was accurate, that's all!" Lucia said, assuming that this had something to do with messyness that she, Jane and Sora caused with their world travels. "So...what do you know about them?"

"Duh," Marinette interrupted, "Where's Adrien? W-wasn't he suppose to come work on this with us?"

Alya smiled, "He's on his way. Trust me girl, I didn't work so hard for him to partner with us so he can get away with the work."

"You worked hard on getting Adrien on our team?" Lucia blinked, "Why?"

Marinette waved her hands and Alya laughed.

"Because Marinette here is totally in love with him." She said.

"Alya!" She whined.

"No offence," Sora cut in, "But I am happy there will be another guy here. I spend too much time with girls."

Lucia laughed. "You're just so easy to talk to, Sora!"

When the doorbell rang, Marinette freaked out and began making all kinds of awkward hand gestures and unknowing how to react. Sora laughed.

"Here's an idea: Stop." He said. Marinette blushed and Alya stood up to let Adrien in.

"Hey, guys." He said with a kind smile, "Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time at my fencing practice."

Marinette's wave would not stop, Alya had to bring her hand down for her.

"You take fencing?" Sora asked surprised, "That's really cool. Are you any good?"

Adrien's fist balled in confidence. "Sure am! I'm the best on my team."

Sora's eyes widened, trying to remind him not to share that he's a magical being. "Cooool," He said, "I uh, happen to be into swordsmanship myself. I'd love to see you in action. Sora!" Sora said, holding out his hand to shake Adriens. Lucia scratched her cheek, thinking of the action Jane was missing. Two super hotties getting a long like this? She could already hear her comments...

" _Great. And when you're tired and sweaty from the sport, y'all can rest with me and make a human sandwhich."_

Lucia laughed at her thought. "Hey Adrien, we decided to go with a multimedia project for our presentation. How are your craft skills?"

Adrien put his bag down and crouched to the ground next to the girls. "I'm ok, I'll do my best. Hey great drawing of Ladybug! It's as awesome as she is!"

Both Lucia and Marinette blushed for their own reasons.

"Really?" Lucia said, "I-I'm not the strongest artist."

"No way, you totally have mad skills, Lucia. You should keep drawing!" Adrien said. "I didn't know there were so many talented people in my class. Marinette is also an amazing artist."

Marinette stuttered like crazy. "What-I-no-me-come on, they're just doodles."

"You don't have to be humble, Marinette. She designed an awsome hat for my father that I got to model back in Paris, and she even designed an album cover for Jagged Stone." Adrien flaunted. Marinette burned in embarrassment as Adrien spoke and Lucia froze where she sat. Everything Adrien described was word for word what she and Nathaniel had written in their notes and it freaked her out.

"That's impressive..." She said, looking at Sora to see if he noticed anything odd but he was as comfortable as usual. "So, shall we get to it?"

After a few minutes of crafting, Lucia was struggling with making a pop-up page for the project. When she had trouble folding the sticky side of the paper onto itself, she scratched the paper in frustration and suddenly, the tinniest light glistened under her thumb and the glue on the page glowed and doubled in size, sticking the paper together effortlessly. She blinked in shock and checked to see if the others noticed. Luckily, they did not.

What was that? She thought.

* * *

 **Later**

"Are you sure?" Sora asked Lucia when she explained what she had seen. They walked toward the park together where she was meant to be meeting Nathanial.

"I made glue." Lucia said with certainty, "The paper wouldn't stick and then my finger lit up and applied shiny glue out of no where."

"And you're sure you didn't imagine it?" Sora asked.

"Why would I imagine it?!" She huffed.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you were acting weird while we were there." He crossed his arms, "hitting me in the leg and lieing to your friends."

"You didn't pick up on it?" Lucia questioned. "I showed you my sketches at school of my project! These people are the living, breathing characters from my book. Sora, they're saying that Ladybug and Chat Noir, my creations, are real heros from Paris!"

Sora thought back to the conversation.

" _I collaborated with Joey on this super hero idea!" Lucia said, "About a boy and a girl with special jewels that allow them to transform into super heros of Paris! I'm calling them Ladybug and Chat Noir- the french is in honour of Nathaniel for helping. Though I haven't figured out the concept or identity of our main super villain yet..."_

" _So how does it feel to create a whole new world?" Sora asked._

" _Oh yeah...somewhere out there is a world with all these characters..." Lucia said._

"Hey, maybe I'll visit some day and give you a full report." Sora said...

Sora jumped when he realized what Lucia was talking about.

"Woah, wait a minute," Sora stopped walking, "Your characters aren't suppose to be in THIS world. That's impossible!"

"That's what I mean!" Lucia said with her arms up, "First, Jane and I get world travelling side effects. Now, we're getting visits from characters from random worlds!"

Sora had his hand to his chin in thought. "But...they're living here. They don't seem to have any idea that they're outsiders..." Lucia's head began to spin in confused before Sora spoke again. "This must be the work of someone else. It has to be the reason I'm here!"

"But Ladybug and Chat Noir are good guys." Lucia raised a brow, "How can they be the darkness that brought you here- one hidden enough that Link and Yami haven't seen or heard of?"

That's when it all began to make sense...everything that has gone wrong since Sora came into this world.

"It's your missing super villain..." Sora said. "That's it!"

Lucia blinked and Sora clenched his fist, thrilled that he finally was making progress after so many days. "This super villain of yours must have come to Savannah Georgia-a world without magic- for a reason. And...because he's an outsider doing things they shouldn't, it's causing imbalances. I'm suppose to find and defeat this person and return things to normal! That makes sense, right?"

Lucia frowned. Her creation was the cause of the mess? And she didn't even give him an identity, so he could be just anyone or anything. Is this her bad karma for never being able to finish projects?

"It does make sense..." She said, "I just think we need more evidence to support that theory."

"Hey, it's a start!" Sora said, proudly. "Maybe you should dig deep on your friend, Nathaniel. Maybe he already invented a villain and hasn't told you about him yet. If we know who it is, we can investigate more."

Lucia nodded. "Okay, I'll be sure to talk about our super villain." She paused, "But...what about the glue thing? Do you think that just comes with changes from Hyrule?"

Sora noticed the destination was close and nodded, "If it was glowing, there's a good chance of that. I'll head back and see if Jane experienced anything similar. Are you going to be ok with this guy by yourself?"

Lucia nodded. Having video chatted and sending emails back and forth, she was confident that Nathaniel had all the best intentions. "Yup. It's time for Operation: Investigate."

Sora blinked. "Operation?"

Lucia chuckled, "It's just something Joey used to say."

Sora smiled. "Remember to avoid shade, okay? Call me if you need anything."

Lucia smiled back at her friends thoughtful little reminder. Of course she hadn't forgotten to not reveal her little...luminescent secret. But she knew she still had to be extra careful for more reasons than one. Quickly replying to her text, she tucked her phone in her jeans front pocket as Sora ran off. Lucia and Nathaniel had decided to meet at a populated park, Forsyth Park was pretty popular with tourists and known for their beautiful fountain.

Glancing at the various people walking around she remembered Nathaniels e-mail last night, a week after her accepting his offer of meeting up he mentioned that he'll be wearing purple pants.

 _Purple pants should be pretty noticeable._ She thought to herself, fixing her jean patterned army cap. Humming as she waiting for her eyes to catch it, taking a few steps forward.

' _Hopefully he'll be here soon…'_ She thought with a sigh trying to remind herself to have patience.

"Eii!" She shouted as she suddenly felt a strong force crash into her, knocking her to the ground. Before she knew it she was rubbing the part of her back that hurt from the collision.

Looking up to see the figure, who was scrambling to pick something up? Blinking owlishly, it registered that a bunch of papers had scattered around them, a few had landed on her lap.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" A panicked voice stuttered out, it was a boy with eye catching red hair that reached his shoulders currently messed up as he was flailing around picking up his papers.

"It's okay, I'm fine!" She said trying to calm him as he looked like he was going to have a panic attack.

She began to quickly help him, collecting the loose papers from everywhere she could find. It took her a moment as she glanced at the papers to realize that they were sketches.

' _Wait a minute...These look familiar'_

She noted, though rather rough she could make out similar traits of these sketches as she saw in her E-mail buddy Nathaniel's sketches. She finally realized, after seemingly all the pieces of paper were picked up, his jeans which were indeed a faded purple.

"Nathaniel?" She decided to take a shot in the dark, biting her lip anxiously.

He blinked in surprise, before his mouth curved in a "o" shape.

"..Lucii?" He said in awe, at this she nodded with a smile. His face began to change to a bright pink as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You look different in person...Ah! Oh great….Talk about first impressions. I got to work on those." He said in a soft but obviously embarrassed tone.

"It's alright, It's certainly a memorable first meeting!" Lucia giggled in response, her own face with a little more colour then usual. After her giggles ceased she slowly held out her hand wanting to properly greet him. The boy accepted and they shook hands kindly.

"Savannah Georgia really is a beautiful place. You weren't kidding." He said.

"Haha, yeah! Low crime too, that's my favourite part." She said.

* * *

 **Later at the house**  
 _Evening_

"One, two, three- wait, how many people are eating with us?" Jane asked the Link who's turn it was to prepare dinner.

"Well, it's us at home and Sora." He said. Jane looked up.

"And Yugi?" She asked.

"No, not Yugi." He clarified. Jane frowned.

"I miss Yugi." She said, counting the cookie dough on the pan that she prepared. There were six in total.

Link put chocolate chips on the cough while the sirloin steaks fried. "Yeah, me too. Even Joey, despite, you know, how much of a pain he was."

Jane laughed and licked her fingers of the delicious cookie dough as she heard the door. "Mm! Atem is home."

She jogged to the front door and saw that it wasn't the Pharaoh, it was Sora. She blinked.

"Hey Sora, aren't you suppose to be with Lucia?" She asked. Sora smiled at the messy bun she had, an oven mit on one hand and wearing an oversized apron.

"Yeah, I had to leave early 'cause I wanted to talk to you about something." Sora mentioned.

"Jane, I need the oven mit!" Link called from the kitchen and Sora blinked.

"You're baking with Link?" He said worried, "That involves water."

She shushed Sora. "I only did the cookies. Zero H20 contact." She said, jogging back to return the mit. She removed the apron as well and left Link to his chore before meeting Sora at the stair again. "But I do have something pretty cool to show you that helped me keep dry~"

Sora's eyes widened and he pushed her up the stairs. Once they were in the sound proof washroom, far enough and closed in enough so that Link's hearing wouldn't pick up on them, he took a breath and looked at her seriously.

"You can't say stuff like that around Link! Are you crazy?" He scolded and Jane shook her head, sitting against the wall with Sora inches from her so that whispers could be enough.

"I didn't say anything suspicious, don't worry!" She said, "Look!"

At that moment, Jane held up her hand in position as though to pick something up, then slowly twisted her wrist as though she was turning an invisible object. Sora watched confused before hearing the tap behind him turn itself on and he jumped as he turned to around to see it, turned back and then looked at the tap again to confirm it was her doing.

"H-how'd you-" Sora was baffled and Jane bite her lip in excitement.

"That's not all." She said, raising her hand a bit. Sora watched the water and it was now changing shape. It came out of the tap in a snake-like fashion before flowing into the drain again. "I moved it. I can boil it and freeze it and mold it and harden it and-"

"Wait stop-" Sora said, taking it in. "When did you discover this?"

Jane stood up from the floor with eyes of excitement. "When we got home from the beach! I noticed something weird so, when I was taking a bath, I was just messing around in the water and things started happening. I was home alone for a little while so I practised and learned all these amazing things! Then when Link got home and asked me to help him bake cookies, I said sure since, you know, the only problem would be the milk which he would want to do that part anyway, haha, and I had this little trick handy just in case."

"That's crazy-" Sora said, "Cause, I was going to warn you of this, but...I guess you got it covered."

Jane's smile become surprised, "Warn me?"

"Yeah. Lucia thinks she made glue out of light." Sora explained. "I...I think you guys don't just change in water or the dark...I think you guys can use some form of magic now."

Jane was excited with her new abilities, but she was also concerned. There is absolutely no doubt that there was magic in this realm now. They've seen proof of it several times. The bigger question was, how? And why? Was Sora here to rid this _super villain_ like he's predicting? Or should he go back to his original theory and investigate Link and Yami some more? Are there multiple causes? It was all becoming stressful for them, especially the keyblade wielder, who had to figure this out while protecting the girls and their secret.

"Where's Lucia, anyway? We need to get to the bottom of this." Jane asked.

"She's meeting that penpal of hers." Sora said, "Maybe we should crash their meeting. You were by yourself when you made the discovery. Lucia may not be so lucky."


End file.
